Traveling
by Elieare
Summary: My first ever romance. :O Piccolo travels around the universe. After a bizare incedent he ends up in an off world prison where he meets a woman. Piccolo and OC, no the OC is not perfect. Hope you likey, T just cuz you can never be too safe.
1. Chapter 1: Who Am I?

Disclaimer: I do not think I can ever stress enough that I don't own the copyrights to any Dragon Ball Z character or DBZ affi

Disclaimer: I do not think I can ever stress enough that I don't own the copyrights to any Dragon Ball Z character or DBZ affiliated topics, ideas and things, EVER.

_Hullo, I have decided to go into uncharted territory for me on two levels. One, this will be a romance between Piccolo and an original character Oo, I would like to say before anyone rolls their eyes that I am not into the typical romance you find in such works as The Notebook, actually my favorite romance movie is Roman Holiday with Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn. Second, I do not like perfect characters so this will not be a Mary Sue. I will also be writing this in first person from Piccolo's point of view, my second experiment, to be honest I feel it's necessary to adequately capture the romance. So it should be interesting._

**Chapter 1: Who Am I?**

Two years, two years the world has been at peace since the reign of terror Cell brought upon the Earth. Two years since Gohan shocked us all with his power and destroyed that insidious android. Two years since Son Goku decided to remain dead in the hopes it would cease the threats upon the Earth. Two years there has been peace, perhaps Son was correct, to be honest I didn't really believe that, but the effects of his death seem to prove otherwise. Two years there has been peace… at least for the Earthlings, for Gohan, and for the other warriors. I have not found peace. I'll never admit it though, never show it. Mostly because I despise "talking through" my problems, and acknowledging the fact I have emotions, but also because it is expected of me. Everyone expects me to be the stoic Namek, the silent and unemotional green man, and to be honest I have no desire nor reason to be anything different, so I'm not, at least on the outside.

On the inside is a different story, I maybe able to fool the world, but I have yet to discover a way to fool myself, especially with as much meditation is required for me to keep my sanity, to prevent my more… violent and hateful tendencies spawned by my dark origins to take control of me. That is the past though, my present is what plagues me. Ha, I still can't lie to myself; I know damn well the past is what makes my present unbearable. Not my origins though, not the unmet desires of my sire nagging at me, not Kami's regrets, not the fear and pain I endured as a child, well, what little period I was a child. None of those, not even internally do such things have merit, what does is my current feeling of uselessness. I always believed I could hold my own no matter the circumstances; my strength could always get me through whatever opponent threatened me. Yet, time and time again that is proven wrong, ever since that day at the twenty-third Tenka'ichi-Budo'kai when I lost to Son. No not then, I've never been like Piccolo Daimao. I didn't thirst for World Domination or the death of Son, I only strived for it in the hopes it would shut Daimao the hell up once I achieved it. I was naïve and with a voice like Daimao's constantly harassing me in my head, I started to truly yearn for things that had no appeal to me before. I suppose a part of me blamed Son and the humans for my suffering too. That's not important though, only sentimental rubbish and inconsequential nostalgia. It really started when Radditz was dying before me and spoke of the coming of Vegeta and Nappa, for the first time in my life I felt… I'm not sure, I don't really care either, just that it was not normal.

Then to be overwhelmed by Nappa the way I was, then Frieza, the Androids, Cell, yes it all went downhill from the day I killed Radditz. Even during that fight, I was beginning to feel that my strength was… inadequate. The Cell Games is when it really effected me though, to watch Gohan and Goku fighting Cell, to hold their own against that monster and know that with a mere gesture that thing could snuff me out was very… unsettling. I am a warrior, my one true love is the fight: the adrenaline, the strategy, to look my opponent in the eye and see their passion, to meet it with my own as we exchange blows. It's hard to do that when your opponent could kill you with a flick of his finger or with little more effort than that. Yes, my last battles have not been fights at all but beat-downs, torture. I never stood a chance; my pride didn't allow me to except it at the time, well, until I had a hole blasted through me, (or dozens of holes in the case of Frieza). Or when my insides turned into failing organs and my bones shatter with a single punch, or worst of all to be smacked around by the most annoying, shrimpy little pests and not be able to do a damn thing. I suppose for most of them I simply bought time for Son to get there, not really my idea of useful though.

I was irritated, with myself, with my life, and with the fact that my future appeared monotonous at best; there certainly weren't any fights to look forward to. Kami's influence screamed at me that I should be happy that the Earth was safe and not crave a disaster to strike so I can beat it up, or get beaten up as it seemed I was only capable of doing. Damn, I was aggravated, and very uncharacteristically self-critical. Perhaps I was thinking too much. I did feel useless though; I needed something, _anything _to come up so I could have focus in my life again. Bah, what idiocy, clinging to such foolish and superfluous things. Someone, either Nail or Kami gave me the impression that those things were important and I was being a coward by running from them, but I ignored the notion. I had enough emotional reflection for the day, anymore and I think I'd gag from the sheer annoyance of it.

I sensed Gohan accompanied by his brother heading to the Lookout as I pulled myself out from my meditations.

"Hey Piccolo!" Gohan greeted cheerfully, his huge smile beaming.

"Hi Picc-oo-loo," Goten struggled to pronounce then giggled with delight at his success.

Inwardly I scowled, what on earth was so difficult about my name that he had to butcher it the way he did?

I just grinned slightly, "Hey kid, and Goten."

"I Goten!" The miniature Goku shouted with glee.

"That's right, you're Goten," Gohan said enthusiastically as he crouched down to his brother's level, then tickled his stomach until the child started rolling on the floor with a pot-bellied laugh that stung my ears.

Why the kid encouraged such an obvious and rudimentary observation was beyond me, but I never was good with kids.

"What brings you up here Gohan?" I asked when Goten finally stopped laughing and instead begun exploring the area.

"Well, I just wanted to visit you, it's been a while after all, I meant to come earlier but in between catching up with homework and helping Mom with Goten it just slipped my mind, so when my Mom announced we were going to do some traveling it occurred to me I hadn't traveled here since after the Cell Games."

"Traveling?" I raised one of my eye ridges.

"Yeah, Mom said it would do us good to go into different cities and look at future schools for me and to see how normal kids act."

I couldn't help but wince as Goten squealed in the background and cooed as Mr. Popo entertained him with strange faces.

Again something I never understood, what possessed anyone to think making absurd faces at a baby was cute never dawned on me.

That wasn't important though, an idea that suddenly came to me was, I would meditate on it later though.

The two half-Saiyan boys remained on the Lookout until the sun began setting, then left with the thought of dinner motivating them.

Travel… what if I traveled? Not on Earth, there wasn't anything here for me after all. But to other planets… how would I get there though? I was _not _borrowing a ship from Capsule Corps. ,the inconvenience of such an arrangement was infinite at best. Son's teleportation (a.k.a. Instant Transmission) technique only worked if you knew someone so you could lock onto their chi as a point of reference and focus, so that was out of the question… unless I could modify it. It was worth a shot. Night had fallen quite some time ago and Dende had retired to the inner most chambers of the palace, Mr. Popo was, well, wherever he went at this time so no one was around as I used Kami's knowledge to transport myself to the Check-In Station. Needless to say, King Enma (a.k.a. King Yemma) was shocked to see me.

"Piccolo," he boomed, "What brings you here?"

"I need to talk to Son Goku."

"What for?"

"I just need to talk to him, now will you summon him, or should I find him myself?"

"Piccolo! You know well I can't let you just come here barking orders at me and wandering around-"

I was about to cut him off when Son teleported a few feet from me, "It is you?!" He exclaimed, "You didn't die did you?"

"No."

"Oh good, when I sensed your chi suddenly appear here I was worried. But… if you're not dead then why are you here?"

"I want you to teach me your teleportation technique."

"Huh? What for?"

"That is not your concern, will you teach it to me?"

He shrugged and grinned, "Sure, I have a while before I was going to train with some aliens here anyways."

King Enma yelled something at us but I ignored him, which was not an easy feat.

**\""/**

I finally returned to Earth a week later, the technique had been much more complicated than I had thought but I certainly learned it faster than Son had. Now, I needed to work on modifying it, if possible. I went to my favorite spot on Earth, the waterfall in the wasteland where I had trained Gohan. My modification was… painful at first. My initial attempts failed all together and I ended up in exactly the same spot I had started in. After a while though, I actually managed to transport myself from one side of the waterfall to the other, unfortunately my left arm and leg did not accompany me on the journey. To be honest, I don't know where they went. Losing them hurt, a lot, I quickly regenerated them, but to my annoyance, pain still plagued me. I cursed and tried again, focusing on not only moving but also on keeping my body whole. It took a while to perfect that. Each time I was missing something, a foot, a hand, an arm, an ear, an antenna. Once, I thought I was actually successful, and that the pain was just leftovers from my previous attempts, my breath shallow from exertion. Then I realized that the there was something truly wrong, my breathing was getting even more strained, the pain increasing tenfold. I was barely able to regenerate one of my lungs before I passed out from lack of oxygen. Not a pleasant experience, I don't suggest it. I took a break after that, rested to regain my energy again, and meditated to try to focus on what I was doing wrong.

A month and more near-death mishaps then I'd like to admit, I succeeded. I could lock onto to the smallest amount of chi, whether it is from a flower, an animal or a human, and teleport myself there. A familiar chi was much easier to lock onto for whatever reason and I still had occasional flubs in where I would find myself missing some body part when I locked onto foreign chis, but for the most part, it worked. I wasn't about to teleport to the first chi outside of the planet Earth though, there was no way of knowing I could breath there, or if the temperature would freeze or incinerate me in an instant, or if I would end up in solid rock. Therefore, my next step was to create a force field strong enough to withstand and protect me from any environment and keep a bubble of atmosphere I could breathe, although I planned on mapping out planets I could breath on through Kaio-Sama ( a.k.a. King Kai), but it would be a useful backup.

It took massive amounts of energy; I had to build my stamina up more in order to strengthen it properly. On one of my later test I teleported myself into the middle of the Earth's sun. I found my energy reacted oddly with the sun's, causing the force field to be canceled out. I barely managed to teleport myself back to Earth and to Dende. He healed me, actually not completely; my injuries were too extensive to do that. He started mumbling in Namek something along the lines of "What the Hell were you doing?" before he passed out from exhaustion. I returned to the waterfall, several burns reminding me of the task I still had to complete.

I learned how to compensate for the weird energy clash I had experienced early and discovered that when you're in the center of the Sun for more than the second, you go blind. I had to go to Dende to fix that too. He asked me what I was doing again. "Experimenting," I replied as my eyesight returned, then teleported away. He tried to contact me mentally but I ignored him. He gave up eventually.

My next step was not one I looked forward to. I inwardly sighed and visited Kaio-Sama in the afterlife; relieved when he said Son wasn't there. The last thing I wanted was that fool to bombard me with a thousand questions, Kaio-Sama was bad enough. However, using the data he collected I mapped out every major planet in the quadrant and constellations of which I could refer to once I was on the planet. I made a special mark on the ones the atmosphere was suitable for me to breathe. It was a long tedious process, but it would be worth it. Armed with these techniques and supplies I teleported to the nearest chi signature I could find.

**\""/**

I looked at the barrel of a gun in my face. Not a normal gun either, this one I couldn't actually dodge, endure or anything of the sort as if I was on Earth. I felt another barrel pressed on the back of my head.

"Hica vosh nunder farl."

Crap, they spoke a different language then the normal population. The translator I had received on one of my first off-planet excursions needed more of a sample before I could speak and understand the language. Hopefully, it hadn't been damaged in the fight I had just come out of. Out of a fight into the face of a gun, humans had several expressions to describe this situation, none of which were inspiring me on how to evade the situation with my head intact. I had all ready tried teleporting, they teleported with me. It was not a technique I wanted to find I shared with them.

"Hanv tuora!?"

"I have no idea what you're saying."

"Ix freyi glutouiun!"

The person behind me jabbed the butt of his weapon into my back, cracking a rib bone.

"Ix freyi glutouiun!"

He repeated.

"Ix freyi glutouiun yourself," I hissed, wishing the translator didn't need such a large amount of a language before it worked.

He slammed the gun into my leg making me fall to my knees, the other one still locked onto my forehead with his gun.

Inspiration struck. Perhaps clichés were useful after all; I was going to take myself out of the frying pan and back into the fire.

I focused on a star that was called Huustin Fleem, meaning "Little Sun" that orbited the planet adjacent to the one I was on, and one I had just visited. I raised my force field and teleported there. They followed. I kept my eyes closed so I wouldn't be blinded, but I felt their chis disappear. A different chi appeared followed with a crackling noise and heat. Reflexively I opened my eyes and saw a being of energy that resembled something of a cross between a dragon and a lion breaking my force field. I cursed myself for my stupidity as I lost my eyesight. The creature was about to destabilize my force field; I didn't have time to focus on a familiar chi on the planet below, so I focused on the largest one nearby. Silence encased me.

Someone behind me groaned, "Oh? When did you get here?," a feminine voice whispered in a language the translator had all ready mastered (at least I knew it still worked).

"I mean you no harm, I'm simple passing through."

"Passing through? Can't you see where you are?"

"Not particularly", I turned to her general direction.

"Oh, you're blind. So what where you doing that you ended up in here without realizing it?"

"I needed to get away from someone, so I teleported to Huustin Fleem, I was attacked by a creature and made a hasty retreat here. I apologize for the intrusion."

"Wait, you're not a prisoner?"

"No."

"Oh gosh, you must leave quickly before they neutralize you."

"Why, what half of the planet did I land on?"

"The Greyjia Regime side, you're in a prison cell!"

I cursed and quickly searched for a chi I could lock onto. It was too late. A shock ran through my body, knocking me unconscious.

_So yeah, possibly a little boring. No romance yet. I hope I stayed as true to Piccolo's character, there are a few rough spots I think, but critique gracefully and help me out._

_Elieare_


	2. Chapter 2: Prison

Disclaimer: As always, I don't own the rights to DBZ, DBZ characters, techniques, ideas, etc

**Disclaimer: As always, I don't own the rights to DBZ, DBZ characters, techniques, ideas, etc.**

_Hi, I haven't gotten any questions yet so I'm hoping all is going well._

Chapter 2: Prison

I groaned as I stirred, my back cold from the concrete below me. I rolled over and pushed myself up with my hands, but found my legs were numb. I fell, my back hitting a wall, and I slumped to the floor. I found my eyesight had returned somehow, although things remained blurry and the images seemed to be spinning. I felt cold all over and my right shoulder screamed with pain, pulses of agony racing from it to the rest of my body.

My vision began to steady and clear, I saw the vague outline of a person, she spoke, I recognized her voice as the woman from before, but I couldn't understand her words. I reached for my vest pocket where I kept my translator and found it was gone, along with my normal clothing, all I had on was a pair of baggy grey pants and a white string that kept it tightly on my waist.

"I c-can't understand you," I said, my voice hoarse.

The world suddenly focused to crystal clarity and I saw her. She was kneeling next to me, her eyes were the colour of my skin, the pupil looked like an eight-point star, I detected worry in them, her brow furrowed slightly, her mouth a thin pale blue line against her almost royal blue skin. She grinned briefly; an idea must have come to her. She raised her hands, her palms open and facing me and annunciated as clear as she could, "Kov ject huinta kularsan."

From the exposure I had to their language on my prior visit I was able to translate it as "I do not intend kularsan," I wracked my brain trying to decipher that last word, or was it a phrase?

She reached out towards my face; my hand instinctively grabbed her wrist with what little strength I had. She smiled, "Gioundi, kov ject huinta kularsan."

"What?"

With a surprising strength, she broke free from my grip. Then she closed my eyes with her ring finger and thumb, her index and middle finger on my forehead. Images appeared in my head. I saw myself standing in the cell from her point of view, I saw electricity surge through the floor and knock me out, and guards wrapped with various black cloths so that all you see of them was their outline and their red eyes drag me away. Then the images changed, turning into a picture of a man and a rounded device that was probably the size of my hand floating nearby. The man fired a chi blast, and then he was knocked out the way I was. The device moved and settled into the unconscious figure's shoulder. He woke up, the device still there and tried to fire a chi blast but couldn't. Then she showed me being thrown back into the cell, a scar on my shoulder. She pulled away.

I instinctively touched my shoulder and found the scar. I tried to tap into my chi and I couldn't, something was blocking it, no doubt that device she had shown me.

"Juikoulob?"

The phrase was familiar, it was a common thing among the inhabitants, they said it every time they gave instructions, or told a story, it roughly translated into "do you understand." I followed etiquette.

"Juikouvig, I understand."

She looked startled that I knew the world and raised an eyebrow.

"I know a little of your language, I-" I cut off abruptly, she couldn't understand. I motioned with my hand for her to close her eyes. She looked puzzle but followed my gestures. I found my telepathic abilities were not restricted and sent her an image of me among her race on the other half of the planet and the translator I used, and how it worked.

She nodded and said, "Juikouvig," she paused as if remembering something and pronounced carefully, "I understand."

I nodded and inwardly sighed. This was going to be awkward. No doubt everyone here spoke her language, Isgamanic, and my knowledge of the language was much too limited to survive in that type of environment. I pulled myself into my meditative position to relax and focus. I heard her move to the other corner of the cell, her breathing becoming slower as she drifted off to sleep.

Later when I pulled out of my meditation, I noticed her idlely forming intricate patterns in the grime that covered the floor in patches with a slender rock chipped from the wall. She saw me watching and suddenly stopped, the cheeks of her face turning an even darker shade of blue as she quickly erased her drawings with a sweep of a rag that looked like it had been sleeves she had torn from her shirt. She wrapped the rock in the rag, secured it onto her pants with the string holding them up, and looked away from me. What an odd creature. I was considering drifting back into meditation when I saw her open her mouth, pause, narrow her eyes, and then speak, "Pavolislob?"

"Piccolo."

She frowned, "Peek-ho-lo."

"No, Pic-o-lo."

"Pe…Peek…Pek, Pek-ho-lo."

I growled softly and unvoluntarily,"Pic, PIC-O-lo," irritation accented the first two syllables.

"Piic, Pic-ho-lo, Pic-holo."

I sighed and grumbled, "Close enough. And you? Pavolislob?"

Her cheeks turned dark blue again and she quickly muttered, "Ghstlayvona."

I raised an eye ridge.

She huffed, "Geest-lie-vo-na."

"Geest-la-vo-na."

"Nek, Geest-LIE-vo-na."

"Geest-lie-vo-na."

"Sle, padahluchact, fumba pavolis?"

"Ject juikouvig (I don't understand)."

She raised her right hand, "Juikouvig," she raised her left hand, "I understand."

She let her left hand drop, "pavolis," she raised her left hand and raised an eyebrow.

I thought about it, and figured she was asking what "pavolis" meant in my language, and said, "name."

"N-n-name," she giggled, then burst out laughing.

I tilted my head, "What?"

She stifled her laugh, opened her mouth then closed it, smiling and shook her hands as to say "never mind."

Silence followed, which didn't bother me in the slightest, although her outbursts and shyness irritated me.

An hour or so passed when another shock knocked me out. When I woke up, I was strapped down into a chair, wires connected to my head an IV inserted in my arm. I couldn't move a muscle from neck down. A large blue man with the same coloured eyes as Ghstlayvona with the characteristic eight-point star pupil of their race walked in front of me holding my translator, "Ingenious device," he said.

"Why are you holding me, I'm not a criminal."

"Oh no?" He placed his face inches from mine, his putrid breath threatening to gag me but I kept my stoic demeanor and locked eyes with him.

"No, I came here by mistake, I needed to escape, and I didn't have time to triangulate my position."

"Oh, I believe you came here by mistake. I think you're a spy from that damned Yilgrad Free Merchant half of this planet. That you were supposed to infiltrate our ranks and gather information on us so you can return to the other side with it and crush us. But, something went wrong, as you said, "you needed to escape" and "didn't have time to triangulate your position," so you missed your mark and ended up in one of our cells."

"Oh come on, do I look Isgamanian to you?"

"No, I'll give you that, your disguise as an alien is perfect, but that doesn't make you any less of a spy."

"Well if your so determined to remain an idiot go right ahead, I'll find someone who actually matters in this half of the world."

He sneered, "I am Supreme Master Greyjia, head of the Greyjia Regime, there is no one who matters more than me."

I was going to retort with my usual snide remarks but he covered my mouth with his large hand.

"Quiet, I want no more of your head games; here is how it works. The diodes attached to your head will send stimulus to the part of your brain the makes you feel pain, it will stimulate those nerves so that every time I hit this button," he pointed to a red button to his right, "pain of increasing magnitude will strike through your body. So the longer you take to give me the information I want, the more pain you suffer through. Oh and this," he pointed to the IV, "will send a substance into your body that will keep you conscious so that you don't pass out from the pain on me. Now, tell me, what information were you sent here to gather?"

He removed his hand. I glared at him, rage burning in my eyes and said nothing.

**\""/**

It has been seven months since that bastard Greyjia tortured and condemned me in this prison as a spy. Ghstlayvona and I have taught each other our languages so that I can communicate with the other inmates when we're allowed out into the "Communal Recreational and Feeding Room," and so that we can slip into he Earthling language and talk without anyone understanding us. Well except for Greyjia, he still has my translator. As for the guards, they don't seem to have any form of communication so I suppose they could understand us but it doesn't seem like it. I found that every month Ghstlayvona is taken and experimented on, what they are she won't tell me, but whenever she returns she curls into the corner of the cell, her head buried in her knees with him arms locked tightly around them and won't stir for hours. Once, I touched her shoulder because I thought she had stopped breathing. She reacted much more violently then expected, hitting me so hard she broke my jaw and knocked me out for a good hour. She apologized later and told me to never touch her when she was like that. An observation I hard all ready made.

We had just returned from "dinner," the lights (what little lights there were) turned off and all that could be heard was the pacing of the guards and occasional grunts from surrounding cells.

"It occurs to me," I said in Earthling, "that you've never told me what crime you committed to end up in here."

She gave a haunted half-smile, "I defied my father. Said that I didn't agree with him and that I wouldn't go along with his plans. So he makes me live here in prison and does those experiments."

I all ready knew she wouldn't talk about the experiments so I asked, "Who is your father?"

She paused for a while, I thought I had lost her attention because she wasn't even looking in my direction. She suddenly swung her head around, stared into my face, then looked away and quietly replied, "Greyjia."

_Yeah! Did you see that coming?_

_Elieare_


	3. Chapter 3: The Plan

**Disclaimer: I own quite a few things… the rights to Dragon Ball Z are not among them.**

_Anyone want to give me tips on how a teenage girl who's head over heals for a certain boy deals with that stuff? Cuz yeah, I'm clueless. Oh and is it clear enough who's speaking in the story? I tend not to narrate he said she said when there are only two characters; so if it's confusing let me know._

**Chapter 3: The Plan**

"What?!"

She grinned at my reaction, "Yes, and he's not a man who takes kindly to rebellious daughters."

"Well, I can imagine, I just," I stared at her intently through the darkness, trying to pick out some similar quality with Greyjia. Her eyes, it occurred to me I had never seen emerald coloured eyes on another Isgamanian before, except on Greyjia. Still, to think she was related to that bastard, for some reason it bothered me.

"You just what?"

"Nothing."

Silence followed for a while.

Finally I spoke, "Has anyone ever escaped before?"

"No. Why do you ask?"

"I've been working on a way to tap into my chi, bypassing the device."

She had been looking away again, but when I said that, her head quickly swiveled to my direction, excitement shining in her eyes, "Were you successful?"

"Slightly, I can use it in a short burst, at most fifteen seconds, and I can't use it again for a little while, the shortest time in between the burst is two minutes, but the longest and hour, so it's a little unpredictable."

She chewed her lip for a second, an indication she was thinking, "I think it's time I introduce you to the others."

"You mean the secret resistance group you lead?"

She blushed, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about it earlier, it's hard to know who you can trust in here, we've had traitors and spies before, and the circumstances under which you came here were a little bizarre, but-"

A held up my hand, "You don't have to justify it, you've obviously decided I'm trustworthy now."

She gave a sad smile, "Thank you, I'll call a meeting tomorrow."

**\"~**~"/**

I sat a small distance away from Ghstlayvona and the second in command of the resistance, Lokjer (lock-jeer). The two often referred to each other as brother and sister although they weren't related in any way. I never really understood the concept of family, especially when the person isn't a family member by blood or marriage, yet I'd seen the need for "family" in both the humans and here in the Isgamanians as well as on a many other planets. It was an odd concept. I looked instead at the circuits of the great machine before us. We were in the underbelly of the complex, the parts that aren't inhabited but used for indisposable functions. I looked down the pit before me in which the machine disappeared down, and then returned to my mediations when I saw we were safe. I drowned out the voices of Ghstlayvona and Lokjer as they discussed the plans for tomorrow's escape attempt and focused on the steady drone of the machine. The sound wasn't nearly as soothing as the waterfall on Earth, but it served its purpose well.

Some amount of time passed, then deep in my mediation a distant crackling forced me back to reality. I pulled from my meditation like a sleeper from a dream and looked into the pit once more. I saw the concentrated energy beam sweeping upwards towards us. I stood up, "Time to go."

The two "siblings" sighed and squeezed into the crawl spaces that connected us from this place to our cells. Lokjer stopped as we reached a wall and tapped on a panel, his cellmate opened it a minute later and let us into their cell. Ghstlayvona and I would usual just walk to our cells from here, but I was supposed to be on lockdown so I had to enter through the crawl spaces and she would let me in from the other side. I walked to the other side of Lokjer's cell and opened another panel. I crawled in, the wall on my other side now and continued through the cramped maze to the panel that led to my cell. I tapped gently on it. Ghstlayvona didn't open it, she didn't knock back either, that meant she either had gotten held up on the way back, or it wasn't safe for me to enter yet. I waited, leaning against another wall that separated the crawl spaces from each other.

I waited, and waited. Five minutes must of passed, I was starting to get nervous, where was she? A heard the crackling noise in the distance coming closer. I looked to the open end of the crawl space and saw the energy beam making its way towards. I cursed under my breath, the only exit available to me now was the panel leading to my cell. I try to push it out, but it was stuck, it had to be opened from the other side. I knew it but I kept trying, it was my only chance. I didn't have enough room to get any ramming speed behind my attempts, and I learned from previous experience that if I tapped into my chi the beam would instantly zoom in on me. Unlike the last time, I didn't have anywhere to dodge when it did. The beam was heating up the crawl space and getting much to close for comfort. I pounded on the panel and try to reach Ghstlayvona with my mind.

"_Where are you?!_"

"_I'm coming, I'm coming, I was held up by my father_."

"_Hurry, or the energy beam will fry me_."

"_Dammit, just hold on, I'm almost there_."

The beam was only a few feet away, "_Ghstlayvona_!"

She opened the panel. I sprang out into the cell, the beam seared off my foot at the ankle.

I rolled and landed on the cell floor on my back, holding the knee of the leg that had lost the foot.

"Oh gosh, your foot," Ghstlayvona exclaimed and rushed over to me.

"Close the panel."

She turned back and put the panel back in place then returned by my side as I propped myself up.

"What are we going to do?"

"Don't worry, I'm fine," I grunted.

"Fine? That must hurt, and it could get infected, you may not even be able to walk."

"Relax," I closed my eyes and concentrated on my chi. I overrode the device in my shoulder and with the burst of chi I got regenerated the extremity, "See, no problem, just please don't do that again."

"You can regenerate?"

"Obviously, so what did your father want?"

"Oh he was just giving me a lecture that if I try to undermine him I'll not only fail, but regret it."

"Does he suspect the plans?"

"No, he gives me the same speech from time to time to try and discourage me, and he didn't elude he knew any details, and when he knows my plans, he always drops a hint that he does."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, for the most part, and honestly, even if he did know, he wouldn't be able to stop us, he doesn't know you can use your chi, are you sure you're okay?"

"Just drained. So we're keeping the plans for tomorrow?"

"Yes, tomorrow, we escape."

_Sorry it took forever._

_Elieare_


	4. Chapter 4: The Chosen

**Disclaimer: No rights to DBZ –get it? Got it? Coo ;P**

_I got an 89 on my calculus final!!!!! I'm stoked. Seriously, calculus is from Hell. The Latin root for calculus means "a HARD object", very, very appropriately named. (LEAVE THE NERD ALONE). I haven't written for fanfic in forever! On a good note I am on page 40+ of my manuscript. Anyways, an idea for this story popped in my head during Economics (BOOOOOOOOOOOOORing class, very useful for writing though) but it's for the end so I gotta catch up!_

**Chapter 4: The Chosen**

We had broken out five months ago. I have found that I've grown… attached to Ghstlayvona, or as she goes by now, Christine. The name change came from a conversation about human names that we had while stowing away on a cargo ship. I wonder if what I feel is what humans call "love." I'm not sure, but all I know is that ever since I've gotten to know Christine I feel more complete. And once - when I thought she had been killed - I lost control of myself, the only other time that happened was when I threw myself in front of Nappa's blast to protect Gohan, but this was different. I had felt rage, helplessness, anguish even, I am not accustomed to such strong emotions, it's a little unsettling, yet I feel things have changed for the better.

We have traveled to a planet called Thister, which meant the "the twin of the other side," it was almost a replica of Christine's home planet; only, there wasn't a power struggle. The religious cast of Christine's race settled the planet and many escaped to leave peacefully on it. There was one priest in particular she wanted to visit, his name was Yurni. Apparently he was a childhood friend. They talked a while light-heartily about the past, and then Christine became serious.

"I want to under go the Trial, I- I know I can make it."

Yurni sighed deeply and closed his eyes, "…I figured as much. Follow."

As we followed the old priest I asked Christine, "Trial?"

She smiled weakly, "It is our right as Isgamanians, if found worthy we become The Chosen and receive great powers. It is the only way to defeat my father before he damages my planet any further."

We walked into a cramped dim chamber with an odd, clear, human-sized pod. Christine stepped into the pod.

"And what if you're not found worthy Christine?"

She just smiled again.

Yurni pushed a button and a blinding light suddenly filled the room. Once my eyes adjusted I saw Christine floating in the pod. Her eyes were closed, her head up, and her hands open as if she was trying to embrace the swirling energy in the pod with her.

"To answer your question," Yurni whispered, "she will die if is not worthy."

"What?!"

"Hush, calm yourself, it's too late now, the process has all ready begun. The only thing to do now is wait and pray that no one tries to interfere."

"What do you mean," I whispered back.

"She is completely vulnerable now. If someone interrupts the process in any way right now, she would die instantly."

I looked at Christine. I had never noticed how soft the lines of her face were before.

"Now come," Yurni spoke, "it will take several days for the Trial to conclude."

"I'm staying," I said and took to my meditation stance, my back pressed against the pod. It was strangely cold.

Yurni stopped at the door, "Very well," I thought he'd left until he spoke again, "have you told her how you feel?"

My eyes flew open to look at him, but he was gone.

Strangely, I wasn't angry or embarrassed. I glanced at Christine again, a longing from within me that I had never experienced before stirred very noticeably, "No, but perhaps I will," I said under my breath to my self and then delved into meditation.

~/**\~

It had been four days. I hadn't moved from the position I had taken. There was no change with Christine. A few times, Yurni came in and left water for me, then left again. On the fifth day I sensed a disturbance. It tore through the monastery quickly, and just as I had gotten into a defensive stance in between the door and the pod, the door flung open. It as one of the golems that had guarded the prison Christine and I were in not too long ago. Its rotten aroma stung my nose, its long dark body sharply contrasted with the light from the pod. Before it charged, it opened its gaping mouth and screeched at such a frequency it pierced my skull and made me reflexively grab my ears. I recovered in time to see it charging and quickly fired a chi blast that pushed it back. I also realized I was deaf; the only thing I could hear was a dull ring, but nothing else. I followed the creature to get some distance between the battle and Christine. The dark sentinel spread his arms and I was surrounded by complete darkness. I had seen this done on one of the prisoners, the monster had slowly stripped away his key senses, first hearing, then sight, and then it surrounded him in a field that made it impossible to pinpoint it's location by sensing its chi.

I tried to get out of the darkness. The second I moved though a felt several blades coming in my direction. I couldn't dodge them all, so I avoided what I could and took minor damage, the blades cutting into my arm, leg and back. I thought I had managed when another blade suddenly sliced my face, cutting right across my eyes and rendering them useless. The area around me changed and I felt like the thing had completely surrounded me. Rather than wait for the deathblow I used my chi to cause an explosion all around me. The creature and the field were blown away but not before I felt a sudden pressure in my stomach and chest. I instinctively grabbed the areas and realized I had been impaled by something in both places, the object still lodged in me. My knees suddenly buckled. I couldn't feel anything but the pressure in my chest and stomach, not pain, not anything around me. The golem was coming back. It moved right past me; it was after Christine. I had to protect her, but I couldn't make my body move.

"NO!" I must have shouted, I couldn't hear it, but I felt it from my throat, followed by and upspring of blood. I sent another blast at the thing and charged it. I couldn't feel my body moving, but it must have been; I was getting closer to its chi and to Christine. I punched it. It hit the object lodged in my stomach; indescribably pain struck me from the violent jerk the object caused inside. The monster was almost on top of me. I forced myself to stop recoiling from the pain and stuck my hand out at the creature. I felt its face suddenly in my grasp and quickly released another chi blast. Its energy dimmed suddenly and it remained still at my feet.

I staggered backwards and let myself fall to my knees again. The chi completely disappeared from my enemy; it was dead. No one had ever killed one of them before. I wasn't sure I was going to live long enough to celebrate my accomplishment. The jostling of the thing in my stomach had caused it to start bleeding, I could feel the warm liquid escaping from my body, but I felt cold, and stiff. My ability to sense chi was dulling. I thought I felt Christine moving towards me, but that couldn't be right. The cold disappeared and I felt like I was falling into an abyss.

_Mwahahahaha, if you don't know yet, I love to torture my readers with cliffhangers. (insert evil smiley)_

_Elieare_


	5. Chapter 5: Heart's Twined

**Disclaimer: Rights to DBZ? Yeah, no where near my ownership. So it's someone else's, not mine. Christine is my brainchild though, much like Yurni and a lot of other things in the story, but the DBZ stuff isn't.**

_I went to State Science Fair recently, it was really fun, I got 5__th__ place too! (LEAVE THE NERD ALONE!) Anyways, I keep coming up with ideas for this story for the end, so I really, really need to get there but I don't want to rush this part. Let me know if you feel it's rushed though._

**Chapter 5: Heart's Twined**

I felt warm. The pain was gone. I could faintly hear sobbing, and I was shaking. As I came to more I realized that I wasn't shaking, but Christine was holding me, crying her eyes out on my shoulder. I was really weak, but somehow, I could see and hear, and the pressure and pain in my stomach and chest were gone.

"Christine," I tried to say, but my voice was just a hoarse murmur, "you passed."

She stopped crying for a second and did that odd hiccup people do when they're repressing tears, "Piccolo! You're alive, it worked, oh thank goodness." She squeezed me, and then pushed me away a little so she could see my face. Her eyes were puffy from crying. I noticed that on her cheek was a new mark. It was a vibrant red; at the center was what looked like a small sun with five, thick, waved lines spiraling around it. I felt like I was about to pass out again.

"Christine, I'm glad you passed- that, you're alive."

She laughed, for the first time, I saw genuine relief and happiness in her face, "I'm glad you're alive too Piccolo."

"Christine, I think- no, I know that… Christine, I love you," I said and then I must have passed out again.

~/**\~

I found myself looking out of a skylight on the ceiling. I sat up slowly, my body ached and the muscles complained. I had two circles on my torso from where I was injured, they were scabbed an almost healed. I stood up shakily and stretched, working kinks out of my neck and trying to relax my shoulders. There was a grey shirt on the only other piece of furniture in the room. I was still too weak to materialize a shirt, so I slipped it on and buttoned it up. Outside Yurni and Christine were talking.

"Piccolo," Christine smiled, "you're awake."

Yurni gave a quick bow, "I thank you for killing that monster. The rest of the monks and I were in a prayer session for Christine, and the monster released something that knocked us all out instantly. If you had not been there, she would not have been able to pass the test."

"It was nothing, is anyone harmed?" I asked.

"No thankfully," Christine said, "a lot of the monks are still unconscious though, Yurni here is just a little tougher than most."

"Oh please Christine, I probably wasn't exposed to the gas as much, that's all. Now, I have duties I must fulfill, oh your training room is ready for you, so I expect to see you there tomorrow."

"You set up the training room before I passed? It would have been a waste if I had died."

Yurni smiled, "Yes, but we knew you wouldn't die. We all had faith and confidence in you, I would not have let you undergo the Trial if I hadn't thought you worthy. We know that death happens to those who aren't worthy, so I'm not in the habit of letting just anyone try it," he walked away with a smile on his face.

Christine shifted her weight from one foot to the other and chewed her bottom lip, "Um, so about what you said, b-before you passed out-"

"I meant it." I asserted. I had always felt…nervous, around Christine before, but this time I wasn't. I was confident; it was much like when I was about to go to battle with an opponent I was evenly matched with. The outcome wasn't certain, but I knew that no matter what, it would be an exhilarating fight, and I would be pushed beyond what I thought my limits were, and I liked that. I liked the challenge. With Christine I was taking the first steps into unknown territory, emotions I had never really given much thought about, and – despite letting my pride not show it- I liked that too.

"Christine, I cannot guarantee I will be the most gentle or forthcoming person. But, I will be there, always. I will protect you, and……" I took a deep breath, "I will love you. I never thought it possible, never thought it was within my emotional limits, but with you, it is," I felt my cheeks get warm, it was probably the sensation known as "blushing".

She smiled - the same smile as when I told her I loved her- and replied, "I also cannot guarantee I will be the most forthcoming person. I've never felt the way I do with you with anyone else Piccolo. I honestly don't know what to expect, or how things will turn out, but I also know that I will always want to be there for you and protect you, too. I've never been in love before, and I never considered it as part of who am I, but somewhere along the line I have fallen in love with you."

"Well then, shall we chart the unknown?"

"Only with you Piccolo, do I agree to that."

From what I understood of the whole relationship business, this was when I was supposed to kiss her. The only problem was, I wasn't exactly sure how to go about doing that, and I didn't really feel comfortable with the idea myself yet. I had just told her more about my emotions than I had told everyone else I knew combined. That was enough personal interaction in one day for me. Perhaps, another time, the kiss would come. Not today, today was just the beginning.

She moved over to where I leaned on the wall and settled next to me, slightly pressing her weight on me, "So how are your wounds?"

"Almost completely healed. How did that happen anyways?"

She looked at my face, "I knew I would receive great powers. I assumed all of them would be fighting techniques, but I also gained healing powers."

"So you healed me."

"Yes, after removing the two, well I don't know what exactly they were. They were giant claw-like missile things."

"Oh, that's what they were," I instinctively touched my stomach.

"Yeah, I wasn't sure I would be able to help you, they had just gone straight through you, and they were hard to get out."

"But you did, I thank you for that."

"Oh, you don't have to thank me Piccolo."

I grinned and allowed my eyes to meet with her eyes, just for a moment or two.

~/**\~

"It's been three months, since we got together," I said as we watched the sun set. We sat next to each other, her head resting on my chest.

"Yes, good months too."

"And you've completed Yurni's training for your new powers."

"Yes, now it's time to go back to my planet and free my people."

"Yes, and no."

"Oh?"

"I was wondering if you would be willing to embark on a slight detour with me."

"Detour?"

"Yes, I- well," I looked at the sun and then looked at her, "I was wondering if you would go through the Heart's Twined ceremony with me."

She bolted upright and locked eyes with me. Maybe it was the glow of the sun, but her green eyes sparkled and her star-like pupil shined brighter than anything in the sky I had seen, like a fire had touched them and lit her entire world. She smiled from ear to ear, her teeth visible, the fangs we shared glistened.

"Really?! I mean, the Heart's Twined, that's the equivalence of marriage on Earth!"

"I know," I grinned, "I talked to Yurni about it, he told me about the symbol on our hands that allow us to meld or powers if we want to, the connection in our minds that will allow us to share thoughts and feelings without verbalizing, and the ability to locate each other no matter where we are."

"Yes, and nothing can break the bond until one of us dies."

"Exactly, so-"

"Yes! Of course, we should go tell Yurni now so he can prepare everything for tomorrow," she stood up and grabbed my hand.

"I already did, he said he could do it tonight if – well, he said when- you said yes."

"Then, what are we waiting for?"

We walked back to the monastery, our arms linked and Christine humming gleefully.

"You know," she said as we walked up the stairs to Yurni's room, "our relationship has changed me for the better, I'm glad can continue it."

"I ,too, have changed for the better, and I can't imagine life without you know."

"I told you she would say yes," Yurni said from the top of the stairs."

We both smiled.

"Well, head on down to the ceremonial chambers, everyone's waiting there," Yurni returned our smile.

The ceremonial hall was decorated with white, a pathway of blue and purple cloth led to the center of the room. The cloth was usually just blue, representing blood; Yurni must have thought it important to include purple since my blood wasn't blue. A pedestal rose from the floor in the center, a white orb positioned at the top of it.

Yurni, in a white robe, walked from the other side of the room and waited at the pedestal for us. We walked up to it and stopped.

Yurni spoke first in Namekian and then in Christine's language, "Piccolo and Christine, you have pursued a melded path for three months and have found it rewarding. Thus, you have come to me in the hope that you may make this new path permanent. After reviewing your petition, we have all deemed your pursuit righteous. It is our pleasure to offer to you, the benefits of the Heart's Twined ceremony, if you have any second thoughts, now is the time to voice them."

"I have none," I said.

"I have none," Christine said.

"Very well," Yurni pushed a button on the pedestal. The white orb was released from its resting place and hovered a few inches above it, a low pulsing hum coming from it, "Piccolo, place your left hand on the orb."

I did so, all of the feeling in my body disappeared except for a warmth in that hand.

"Christine, place your right hand onto Piccolo's hand.

She did so.

The room disappeared, all I could see was Christine and light, like I was in the Room of Spirit and Time. I couldn't speak or move. The only thing I could feel was still my hand, Christine's hand, clasped on mine. I found I was able to shift my hand so that our palms touched. A sudden wave passed over us, my chest tightened as if I had just jumped into freezing water. I gasped and closed my eyes as the light became too bright.

"It is done," Yurni spoke.

I opened my eyes. The orb returned to the pedestal, the humming stopped and feeling returned to my body. A white swirling mark was on our hands, two swirls that joined in the middle.

_Yay! They finally got together! :P Too cheesy? To unPiccy? Leave me your thoughts if you wish._

_Elieare_


	6. Chapter 6: Revolution

**Disclaimer: Do I own the rights to DBZ and all DBZ things, ideas, settings and any other DBZ affiliated-ness you can imagine? Heck no, I'm just a fan who can write.**

_Alright, I have completed all AP tests, major projects, class finals and actually I will never be a student in a high school class again. That's right I graduated. Yay! Okay, so before I go off to college I want to finish this story, so I hope to produce more chapters fairly quickly. Enjoy._

**Chapter 6: Revolution**

Christine and I had our…honeymoon, all that night and the next day. The day after, Christine and I prepared to leave for her home planet.

"You don't have to go, this is my planet, not yours."

"It's our planet now right?"

She looked at me, I felt her mind probing mine, getting used to our new bond. I let her in and tried to read her feelings, but she was blocking them.

She took in a long breath and took longer to release it, "Fine." She let her guard down, I sensed relief and fear, but joy that I was going with her.

"I have a few things I need to do before we leave. I'll be right back," she left the room.

I was about to quickly meditate when Yurni walked in.

"Piccolo, a word with you."

"No one else here." I replied.

"True," he clasped his hands behind his back, "There are stars in the universe that burn more brightly than any other, yes?"

I was curious and confused, "Yes, there are."

"You know it's very strange, how light travels. That star in the sky that we see might not even be there anymore, it may have exploded years and years before, but we still see it, and then, all of a sudden it just stops. Well, to us it looks like it just stops. Even the brightest star can just…stop, cease to exist in a moment. Do you understand?"

"Honestly? I understand what you say, but I do not understand why you say it."

"Ah, no, but you will, years from now, although I wish you didn't."

"Make sense."

"I have said too much already," he left. I was going to follow, but Christine walked in, and I decided his nonsense wasn't as important as Christine.

~/**\~

"We're almost to your father's stronghold," I said to Christine, who was staring out over a cliff where our forces had settled for the night. She had been quiet all week, never speaking outside of commands and planning, not even with me. She was dreading her inevitable confrontation with her father, her every thought was consumed with this impending fight. I tried to get details, but she was keeping me out.

She nodded.

"Dammit, Christine, will you talk to me?" I didn't want to snap with her, but I couldn't help it, "We have been fighting for almost a year now, and every step we come closer to your father you become more and more distant. Will you at least talk with me!"

She turned suddenly, tears in her eyes, "It's nothing you want to hear."

"Yes I do, it's nothing you want to tell."

"Don't you dare try to push this on me!" She yelled, "I have to deal with this my own way! I warned you before we left, and I meant it. This is something I have to do alone!"

"No it isn't!"

"Yes it is!"

We were inches from each other's faces. Her voice screamed anger, but her face screamed sadness. I wanted her to be honest with me, and to tell me what I could do to help, but I didn't know how to tell her that, how to communicate that, I just turned away and tried to leave. Her fists came slamming down on the back of my head. My face hit the ground, I tried to get up but I passed out.

I woke up to the smell of smoke. The back of my head throbbed. I stood up and saw a fire in the distance, Greyjia's stronghold, where I had been imprisoned not so long ago. The battle was still raging. I could sense Christine fighting her father, and losing. She had more power, more abilities, but she didn't want to use them. I tapped into her mind; her guard was down since she was fighting. She was agitated, angry, sad, confused, her emotions were too entangled to get a real handle on them.

"Dammit Christine," I muttered under my breath and flew to her location.

Her father fired a massive chi blast at her. She was recovering from a previous blow and couldn't dodge it or block it. I fired a Masenko-ha at the attack and blew it away. Christine hit the floor and didn't get up. I wanted to help her but Greyjia attacked me. I fought him, Christine had weakened him, but he was still ridiculously strong. I was stronger though, my technique tighter. I batted him away and prepared a Special Beam Cannon. As I fired it Christine hit my hand, "No!"

The beam shot off to the side, "Christine?!"

"I can't Piccolo, I can't kill him, there has to be another way," tears stained her face again.

In our conversation we had neglected Greyjia, "How touching," he sneered and shot me in the back, the beam snagged Christine and sent her in an opposite direction. Greyjia followed up his blast with another one and a knee slammed into my chest with a series of jabs at pressure points on my body that rendered me immobile. He charged his arm with is chi, making it sword like and stabbed me in the chest, a shock of chi spreading through my body. Greyjia suddenly disappeared, replaced by Christine. The mark on her face had turned red, her body was surrounded with white energy, and her hair had turned white and stood up, like she had turned into a Super Saiyan. I still couldn't move my body, but I was starting to be able to. Christine released a massive amount of chi that blew up the area and sent me about a mile away from the scene. I growled at my body and forced to stand up. Christine's power peaked again. The next explosion sent me much farther back, crashing into a mountain. My sense reeled, I lost my lock on _chis_, my sense of direction, and I couldn't even make sense of Christine's location. I relaxed and let myself get my bearings. When I did, Greyjia's chi was gone and Christine had powered down. She was making her way towards me. I blew away the rubble around me and held a hand at my wound.

"Why the hell did you knock me out!" I yelled.

"Piccolo," she said, "I-I-I," she just broke down all of sudden, falling to her knees and sobbing, yelling in pain and agony. I thought maybe she had been injured, but when I came to her I found only minor abrasions and cuts. Christine suddenly grabbed me in a hold stronger than I had experienced in any fight and buried her face into my shoulder, still sobbing and wailing. It was then that I knew what I had to do. I wrapped my arms around her and kissed her forehead. I held her close for a long time. It started raining, her voice echoed in my skull and in area. I had only cried once before in my life. That afternoon though, I cried again.

_Yes, it's melodramatic. Hope you enjoyed. As always, voice your opinion if you want to._

_Elieare_


	7. Chapter 7:Recuperation

**Disclaimer: yawn I don't know about you guys but I'm tired of coming up with witty ways to say I don't own DBZ, so there it is- plain and simple- I don't own DBZ.**

_Mwahahahahahhahahahahahahahaha, time to spit out more chapters at a faster rate. Aren't you the happy campers for it? Well, I hope so, although I honestly can't imagine why you would waste your time getting all the way to chapter 7 if you despised this story. Stranger things have happened, like space debris flying at insanely high speeds just so happening to land a woman walking around. Anyways, onward!_

**Chapter 7: Exploring**

Christine became despondent after that final battle. She never spoke, as if she had lost her voice, and was always just staring off into space, a cloudy dullness in her eyes settling permanently. When I connected with her mind I didn't feel any emotions or traceable thoughts. It was like her spirit had died. On her planet though, she became an icon. Apparently there was a legend of the Child of the Sun and Light that said in times of crisis, a woman would come forth, with powers bestowed upon her by the gods and save the people from their plight. The woman would be known by her deeds, and a mark on her face. To them, Christine was this Child of the Sun and Light. To me, she was a part of me that I had lost and deeply missed, an irreplaceable soul that left a gap in me I didn't know how to describe. The contrast was very strange, they erected monuments in Christine's name, formed a new government in the pursuit of the peace she had made happened, they idolized her, but they didn't see her suffering. I wanted to help her, but I didn't know how, again.

Yurni, the monks and many of the settlers from the other planet returned with the coming of stability and peace to help rebuild the planet, while others stayed to keep the new homes they had made. I took Christine to Yurni, to see if he had any ideas.

"The war may be over out here, but it still continues in her heart," he said, his face looked a little gaunt with worry.

" I can see that Yurni," I replied with my usual terseness, "but what can I do about it?"

"…The planet no longer needs her here, if anything, it is better she leaves, so she can keep her perfection in the eyes of the people who desperately are seeking hope through her. It seems cruel to make her the one who fights the hard battle and does not reap the benefits of it here, but she knew it was expected."

"Fine, so what happens now?"

"Patience, Piccolo, I'm getting there."

I grunted.

"You do not realize it, but you have an artistic side to you."

"I'm a warrior, Yurni, not an artist."

"Yes, you are a warrior - that is a part of your art - in your moves and attacks you create a story. Outside of battle, you have the uncanny ability to find the most beautiful things in nature. On Earth, you meditated near a waterfall, trained in the majestic icy mountains, when you were with us, you discovered that cliff with the most stunning view of the sunset, a rock and crystal formation that struck even the coldest heart as beauty incarnate, and more. You know where to find beauty and solace, without really meaning to. It is a gift that led you and Christine's hearts to mingle in the first place."

"Um," I never was good at taking compliments, so this was the best my brain could muster, "um."

"Now, you must use this gift to heal her soul. I want you to take her, and explore the galaxy, until her fragmented heart is healed, and I want you to make the rest of her life as happy as you can. That is what you can do Piccolo. Now, I am needed elsewhere, I do not want to see you two for a long time, understood?"

"…I suppose."

"Good," he clasped his hands behind his back and walked away.

~/**\~

I had taken Christine to three different planets now. We were armed again with translators, although she still did not speak. For the most part, I didn't interact with many people anyways. I spent most of our trips in nature as Yurni suggested; I preferred nature anyways. The first planet didn't really have anything too appealing, just a massive tree, which was soothing to look at, but too filled with life to be calming to the ears. On the second planet there were extremely strong and temperamental winds that blew constantly. I discovered an ice crevice that was completely sheltered from the wind, although at one point they had been carved smooth by the wind. It wasn't much to look at most of the time, but it drowned out most of the noise, leaving only a faint, steady hum in the background, almost like the ocean. Then, I discovered at dusk and dawn the ice reflected the light of the blue suns that made it look like the crevice was in fire with blue flames, different shades of navy and sky blue waving through the icy walls. It made me catch my breath in my lungs for a moment, and for a moment, I sensed wonder and amazement from Christine, a fleeting moment, but a moment. After that, I started catching glimpses of more emotions from her, and when the improvement stopped I moved on to the next planet.

The sound made me search for an ocean. I found one with a very unique plant that turned the water's surface purple. It was one of those places that drew you in and allowed you to just stare and think for hours on end. It was there that I felt a strong sensation from Christine; I wasn't sure what it was at first. I finally placed it as longing. I placed my marked hand on hers, and she turned and locked eyes with me. I felt joy and relief from her, and then she turned back to the ocean and the feelings were gone, all of it was gone again. To be honest, I too had felt relief, relief that she had returned. When she looked away, a sadness crashed into me like a wave she was watching. I felt a twinge of anger too.

The next handful of planets got little response out of her. I was on the verge of giving up when I found a grass field, dotted with colours from flowers. Personally, the scents from the flowers were too strong for me to enjoy the place, but the sensation of longing returned to Christine. When I touched her, she locked eyes with me again. The other emotions returned, stronger this time. She looked at me longer, and then she opened her mouth and murmured, "Piccolo…"

"Christine?"

And then she was gone again.

I couldn't handle it this time. I knew I probably shouldn't, but I left her there and traveled to the nearby mountains, where my anger exploded with my chi and a yell. It was a different kind of anger than any I had experienced before. I was helpless. I had been helpless before. I hated being helpless. But this was different, this was- this was- I didn't know what it was, but I didn't like it. I had to get it out. I kept yelling and letting my chi just pour out of me, until my voice was hoarse and I could barely stand. And still, I was angry. I was helpless, I was sad. All of this was so new to me, so strange. I panted, and gritted my teeth.

Then all of a sudden, arms wrapped around my chest, and I felt someone's head rest on the back of my neck.

"I'm so sorry Piccolo," Christine said, "I'm sorry I was so weak, I'm sorry I put you through all of this," she was crying again.

I touched her arm, "Christine, it's fine, your better now, that's what matters," I turned and faced her.

She closed her eyes and gulped down her sobs and nodded. I placed a hand on her cheek and leaned in. I closed my eyes and locked lips with her: our first kiss. Another odd sensation, but I liked this one.

_Corny? Possibly - but it seems appropriate, and it gave me a chance to show weakness in Christine, and Piccolo's reaction to new and strong emotions. Voice your opinion if you so wish._

_Elieare_


	8. Chapter 8: Bonding

**Disclaimer: It's raining mud here but not the rights to DBZ; therefore, I do not have ownership of said copyrights.**

_The final ranking for high school was finally announced today and…………I'm number 7!!!!!!! YAY!!! Now I graduate in white instead of a blue gown!! (LEAVE THE NERD ALONE). So yeah, I'm a happy camper – even though I do like blue a lot better than white. :) _

**Chapter 8: Bonding**

"Piccolo, I know you don't sleep, but please, come to bed, you can meditate for the night lying down just as efficiently as you meditate sitting out here on the balcony."

"Why exactly are you so adamant that I try lying down all night?"

"Well, it's nice to have company while sleeping, and it's not going to hurt you."

I grunted.

"Is that a yes?"

"No."

"Oh, c'mon, I'll make it worth it."

I gave her a sidelong glance, "What could you possibly do to make lying down on some cushiony thing worth it?"

She smiled impishly and replied in a different tone, one that I hadn't heard her use before, "Well, join me and find out," she turned dramatically, making her hair spin around, and she swung her hips as she walked away, gave me another impish smile and then went out of sight.

It was the oddest display I had ever seen from her. She did peak my curiosity. I suppose there wasn't any harm in trying…and I did want to know what she was up to. I sighed, gave another look at the ocean and the lights of the city on the other side and walked into our apartment.

She was sitting on the edge of the bed, still smiling, "I suggest you take off the cape, it'll get in the way."

I was going to argue with her, but it did seem like it would be a hassle to have the thing on, so I took it off and placed it on the floor next to the bed, then I crossed my arms.

She tilted her head to the side, "You know honestly, I always have liked you without the cape. Have you ever thought of wearing something different for weights?"

"Okay, I'm in here, so what is it that you can possibly do that will make me want to use _this_," I kicked the bed lightly.

"Oh, right, well you know."

"No I don't, that's one of the reasons why I'm in here."

She blushed a little, "Well, we have been together for a year exactly, and you know most couples have… bonded by now."

"I thought we already bonded," I lifted up my left hand.

"No not _that_ type of bonding. I mean we might not even be compatible and all, but we can still try."

"What do you mean? What other type of bonding is there? Yurni sure as hell didn't mention it," I shifted my weight in irritation.

"You really _don't_ know do you?"

"No I don't!"

"Well, I suppose when you only have males in your race you would be ignorant of this- but Earthlings must have done it."

"Done what?!"

"Well you know, the bonding process that leads to… well potentially leads to children."

My face flushed, "Oh, _that."_

She giggled, "Yes, _that._"

"Well, I mean, I- I- phew" this was not a conversation I expected, nor was I prepared for.

"I don't want to put you on the spot or anything," she bit her bottom lip a little, "but well, the fight is over and we're at least a little more settled down now, and it would be nice to start a family. Wait, you do have the…equipment, for it right?"

"Well, yes, I mean just because we don't have to… bond, in order to have children doesn't mean we can't- I mean- well I don't know I guess we were meant to be able to bond with other races or something."

Christine sighed, "Okay good, not that I would love you any less if you couldn't but-"

"I've never used it before though, but I suppose," I just shut up after that, I was just rambling, and I didn't like to ramble.

"Shall we find out?"

I shifted my weight again, "…………sigh sure."

~/**\~

Christine's pregnancy didn't last as long as human ones did, but that was normal apparently. So, five months later, we had a son. He was a pale green blue, with his mother's eyes. His tiny ears were pointed and he had my antennae a long with a shock of black hair. He didn't cry, he just looked at me and Christine and smiled. We named him Alucard, well Christine picked the name, I honestly was happy with whatever name she wanted. It was odd, watching little Alucard, I suddenly felt a wave of pride, and a grin came to my lips. Christine grabbed my hand and smiled contently, "He's beautiful," she whispered.

I nodded, "Yeah."

_This chapter is a little shorter this time, but it tells what I want it to. I'll leave the actual act of "bonding" between Christine and Piccolo up to your imaginations since I want to keep this rated T and I'm not into the whole detailed sex scene thing. Hope you enjoyed, voice your opinion if you wish._

_Elieare_


	9. Chapter 9: Return to Earth

**Disclaimer: As always, I don't own anything Dragon Ball Z.**

_It rained on my graduation, and hailed on our way home on the other side of town. I didn't mind though, I still had fun. They streamed our graduation live online for people with relatives in the military or out of town. I thought that was pretty cool, ah technology. You could hear me a mile away though because I wore all of my medals and pins (10 medals, 5 pins), and I was colourful despite the white gown because I got a gold sash for academics and three cords for the honour societies I was in. So I was really decked out. We unleashed our senior prank at graduation too; we all had pennies that we gave to our principle when we shook her hand. A lot of people didn't do it, but a lot did. I was going to be the first one, but I dropped the penny as I was walking over to her: P. It was hilarious, cuz she had these weird sleeves that draped down and became square-ish and she was stuffing all the pennies into her sleeve so by the end of the ceremony it was pretty full ;)_

**Chapter 9: Return to Earth**

It had been eight years since I left Earth. My family had bounced from planet to planet over the past couple of years, and Christine and I decided it was time to settle down for good. Earth had been the only other home I really knew, so when I suggested it Christine was more than excited with the idea. I contacted Dende mentally before we left and he informed me that in his second year of high school, Gohan had been invited to take place in another Strongest Under the Heavens tournament and that everyone was going, including Goku. Christine and I decided to make our appearance at the tournament, and compete in it too.

We had been at the tournament for a while, it was packed with spectators and fighters, although a lot of the warriors were –well, pathetic. There was no sign of the others though. Christine and I waited near the entrance for them to show up and so we could sign in with them. Finally, a group of familiar _chis_ entered. Gohan was dressed in a very odd costume with a white bandanna and sunglasses. He was a lot taller than I remembered him being. Vegeta looked like he always did, although he had finally gotten rid of the Saiyan uniform. I was surprised to see Kuririn with hair and together with 18, they even had a kid. Trunks and Goten had also grown considerably since I had last seen them. Goten looked exactly like Goku did at that age.

"Shall we go greet them?" Christine asked.

"No not yet, I think I'll wait for Goku to show up first," I replied. We stayed seated on a wall under a tree that was off to the side.

"I wonder when dad will get here," Gohan said and looked around anxiously.

"Maybe Kakarot forgot and won't show up at all," Vegeta sneered, obviously trying to provoke Gohan.

"Aw, if Goku said he was coming, he's coming," Kurirun grinned.

Gohan nodded but didn't say anything. A few minutes later, Son showed up, halo and all. There was a commotion as everyone greeted him. I waited for them thoroughly bombard him with hugs and hellos and said, "Alright, let's go."

We jumped off the wall and headed over to them.

I heard Gohan say, "This is great! We almost have everyone here, we're just missing one," he put his head down, "I hope he's okay too, no one's heard from him in years."

"Heard from who?" I came up behind Goku.

"PICCOLO!!" They shouted, and Gohan surprised me by running over and tackling me with a hug.

"Er, uh, hi kid."

Christine giggled, "I take it this is Gohan?"

"Yep, this is Gohan."

Gohan finally let go of me, "Shhh, don't say my name anymore, you have to call the Great Saiyaman while we're here," he put his hands and his hips and grinned.

I raised an eye ridge, "Why?"

"Well I want to keep my identity secret from all the kids in high school. That's why I have this costume, cool huh?"

I looked at his odd get-up, "…sure kid, whatever you say."

He laughed, "You just don't know what cool is now, but that's okay, I'm just glad you're alive. I like the change you made to your outfit too, what made you ditch the cape?"

I looked at the white, long sleeve coat that went down to my knees, "Well, this allows me to have weight on more than just my shoulders, and it doesn't get caught in things the way the cape would."

Christine smiled, knowing that part of it was also because she liked me better in the coat and not the cape.

"Who's the lady?" Yamcha suddenly asked.

"Oh, um, this is uh, my uh wife Christine."

"YOU'RE WHAAAAAT?!" Even Vegeta seemed shocked, it made both Christine and I blush.

"Yeah, we've been married for quite some time now," Christine said.

"Wow, wait to go Piccolo," Kuririn chuckled.

"Yeah who woulda thought you could land such a hottie," Yamcha added.

I wasn't sure how to reply to that, but thankfully Alucard showed, "Hey Dad!"

He stopped when he saw the group of people I was with, "Oh- uh, are these your uh friends?"

I grunted.

"Where are twins," Christine asked.

"Oh, they're probably hiding in a bush somewhere waiting to jump me; they've been trying all day."

"Don't worry, Christine, no one here is strong enough to hurt them anyways."

Her brow furrowed, "I suppose. Go get them though, so we can introduce everyone," she told Alucard.

He nodded, happy to have an excuse to get away from all of the new people.

"Wait, do introduce yourself first," Christine caught him before he left.

"Oh," he bowed, "h-hi, I'm Alucard."

They all bowed in return, Alucard took off the second they were standing straight again.

"He's shy," Christine said as she watched him leave.

Gohan seemed to be in shock, "Wow Piccolo, you have a wife and _three_ kids?"

"Yes."

Vegeta scoffed, "you certainly have been busy Namek."

"Yeah, you seem a lot stronger too," Goku pipped, "I hope I get a chance to fight you."

"As do I," I replied.

"You're not a pushover either," Goku said to Christine.

"No, it shall be a lot of fun competing with you. I've never participated in something like this before, but from Piccolo has told me it should be very exciting."

"Hi!" The twins showed up with Alucard trailing behind.

"I'm Ryu," the boy said, "and I'm Selena," the girl added, they finished by saying in unison, "We're five years old."

Selena is a miniature version of Christine, although her eyes are brown. Ryu looked a lot like me only with hair and a blue tint in his skin. Alucard is a good mix of both of us. The group bowed again.

"Oh, they're so adorable," Bulma said and squatted down to their level, "So you're five years old?"

"Yeah, just two years younger than our brother," Ryu started and Selena finished, "but he's still a lot stronger than us."

"Really?"

They nodded.

Trunks scoffed, in a very Vegeta-like manner, "He doesn't look that strong."

"Trunks!" Bulma scolded.

"Last call for participant entries!" The tournament official called.

"We better sign in," I said.

They all nodded and we headed over to the table. Christine whispered to me, "Things seem a little hectic with them."

I grinned, "Yes, but it's oddly light-hearted."

_Warning, I'll probably move more towards actioness and a little away from romance from now on, just so you know. Voice your opinion if you wish._

_Elieare_


	10. Chapter 10: Old Enemy, New Threat

**Disclaimer: I can style my hair DBZ style, and I can write about DBZ-ness, but I don't own the rights to Dragon Ball Z.**

_I've got nothing new :P. _

**Chapter 10: Old Enemy, New Threat**

I signed up under the name of Nail, worried that Piccolo and Majunior would scare any spectators from the old days. It had been so long I probably didn't need to worry about it, but I didn't want to deal with it if I was wrong. The twins and Trunks argued with the official to let them into the adult tournament, but in the end they had to fight in the junior league. We parted ways at the lockers, where Christine and I were harassed for our colouring –one official asking if I was sick, and the other asking Christine if she was breathing okay. On our way to the prelims, we ran into the announcer from the old days. He knew we were the ones that defeated Cell, and was excited to see us in the tournament again. As we were leaving he called to me, "Hey, try to keep the ring intact this time."

"No promises," I replied.

"You destroyed the ring?" Christine asked.

"Yep, I was rather bent on killing Son at all costs - a ring and hundreds of human lives didn't mean anything to me back then."

"Wow, you did tell me you changed a lot, but- well after all you did for me, the prisoners and my planet I couldn't really believe it."

"You were imprisoned?" Gohan came into the conversation.

"Well, I sort of imprisoned myself. It's a long story, I'll tell you another time."

"Oh, have you been using the teleportation ability?" Goku asked.

"Yes and no, I modified it."

"Really? How?"

"I can lock onto unfamiliar _chis_ now, even _chi_ given off by planets, stars and suns."

"Cool! You'll have to show me sometime."

"I'm not sure if I can-"I was cut off by a throng of people crowding around someone and taking pictures.

"Aw man, I gotta be extra careful," Gohan said and pushed his sunglasses up his nose, "with all these cameras, if I mess up even once, my identity will be known everywhere in an instant."

I looked at all the cameras, "No problem," I used my powers to seek out every camera in the arena and destroyed them, "now you can fight freely."

Gohan grinned, "Oh! Thanks Piccolo that'll help a lot!"

As we passed the crowd I noted that the man they had all been trying to take pictures of was that Satan guy who had taken credit for Gohan's victory against Cell. I didn't say anything about it, but just kept heading for the prelims. When we got there it was already packed with contestants.

"Oh gee- this is going to take forever!" Kuririn exclaimed.

"There are a lot more contestants then before, fighting them for spots in the tournament will be very time consuming indeed," I sighed and growled a little.

"Will everyone please line up for their turn on the punch machine," a voice over a loudspeaker announced.

"Punch machine? That's new," I commented.

"Hey, I'm going to go find my friend, I'll catch up with you guys later, oh, and remember, no Super Saiyan," Gohan said and took off further down the line.

"No Super Saiyan?" I asked.

"Yeah, Gohan doesn't want everyone to connect us with the Cell Games and have the media after us," Kuririn explained.

"Hm, that goes for the little ones too?"

"Yeah, why?"

"We should tell Alucard not to go into his super state either, so it will be a fair fight, the arena couldn't hold a battle between them like that anyways," I said to Christine.

She nodded, "If you hold my spot I'll be back in a second."

I watched her walk over to a secluded section and felt her teleport away to where the kids were waiting.

"So uh- Piccolo," Kuririn elbowed me, "I didn't know you had it in you."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you know –" he had a funny grin on his face, "your wife, and the _kids_ hee hee, I'm even more shocked than when Goku showed up with a kid."

"Oh, _that," _I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes. I saw Christine heading over again, which made Kuririn stop harassing me with his sexual innuendos. A man with a heavy grey cloak and an odd blue mask on his face bumped into Christine, grabbing her arm to prevent her from falling. Christine froze and stared at the person, a look of shock on her face. The figure lingered for a moment and then moved on. Christine watched him leave and then headed over, she was disturbed, worried, confused and a little afraid.

She just stood with us, her brow furrowed.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

Christine spoke in her native language, "I just – well, it can't be."

I changed to her language as well, "What can't be?"

"That man that bumped into me," she looked in his direction, but he was gone.

"What about him?"

"Well, I- I could have sworn it was Greyjia."

"What?! But-"

"That's impossible, I know, and yet…I could swear it was him."

"Hm, I couldn't tell what was going on when the fight was ending. I was only out for a moment or two, when I lost track Greyjia was there, and when I came to he wasn't. I figured he died in the blast."

"I know, so did I."

"Is there any way he could have escaped?"

"Well, apparently so, but," she but her lip.

"But you don't see how?"

"Exactly."

"Hey, what's wrong?" Goku asked, "is there a fighter here that's really strong or something."

I switched back to their language, "If it's whom we expect, then yes."

We were still a good deal away from the ridiculous machine so I left the line to follow after the masked man.

"What are you doing?" Christine asked.

"Confirming that it's him and seeing what he wants."

"What? Piccolo, don't - you're going to provoke him."

I turned and gave her a mischievous grin then kept going, "I'll be fine."

"Piccolo!"

I turned the corner and saw him further down, almost out of sight. I picked up my pace and pushed through the crowd. My target turned in between two buildings that were lined with vendors. I moved as fast as I could to follow him. When I turned the corner I saw a rather dark alley, and no sign of Greyjia, if it really was Greyjia. I paused for a moment and searched for his chi, I couldn't feel that either, he knew how to suppress it though so that didn't really mean much.

"Where are you Greyjia?"

Silence answered me. I stepped further into the alley, when I reached the center I heard what sounded like breathing.

"I know you're there," I spoke in Christine's language.

He replied this time, "Very good Piccolo."

"What do you want Greyjia?"

"Cutting right to the chase, how very typical of you. Christine would have asked how I survived."

"I don't care how you survived, I just want to know why you decided to suddenly pop up after all this time?"

He jumped down, his back to mine, "Defeat me in the ring and I'll let you know."

Greyjia suddenly disappeared, as if he melted into the darkness.

When I returned to the line I could tell Christine was angry and worried without having to use our link through the Heart's Twined.

"So was it who you thought it was?" Goku asked.

"Yes, it was."

Goku couldn't hide his excitement, "Really? So how strong is this guy? Will he give us a good fight?"

"He was strong although not a problem several years ago, but I', going to guess he's a lot stronger now, so he'll probably put up a good fight. He's after Christine and me though, and he won't stop until he gets what he wants."

"Who is he anyways?" Kuririn asked.

I glanced at Christine, she gave me the cold shoulder, but she explained our past interactions with Greyjia.

We reached the punch machine by the time she was done, so we all became quiet and took our turn. I tried to grab her hand to see if she was still mad at me. She crossed her arms over her chest in reaction and looked away from me, her lips pursed. I sighed, the next time we were alone I knew she would let me have it. We didn't argue often, but when we did, it always was very heated and it tended to be over things that never seemed that important later on. It was the downside of the relationship. Everyone always focuses on the happy, and carefree parts of marriage and dating, but there is an equal side of disagreements and fights, the trick is to make the upside better than the downside and to learn how to compromise. We both still struggled with the compromising part, after all we were both rather headstrong and set in our ways.

With the scores we got on the punch machine there really wasn't any question that we would qualify, but we had to wait for everyone to take their turn before they announced who would move on, so we decided to go watch the Junior tournament. We passed Gohan in line; he was with a girl about his age.

"Your friend is a _girl_?" Kuririn grinned.

Gohan blushed, "Yeah, uh this is Videl. Videl these are my friends."

The girl acknowledged us with a nod. The speaker system announced the start of the tournament, so we left Gohan and told him to meet up with us later.

The kids were starting off slow, none of them were going to fight each other for a while, and the earth kids weren't even close to a match. Christine left where we were watching into another room, her way of hinting it was time to get this argument over with. I followed. As usual when she was angry she spoke in a mixture of her language and the language we spoke here. I would always make sure I would speak only in her language since she was most comfortable with it, there was no point in adding to the frustration by adding a language barrier.

"What were you thinking!"

"Why are you so angry?"

"You were reckless! You just walked away!"

"So you're mad because I didn't listen to you?"

"No, I'm mad because I tell you I think Greyjia is back and you go charging after to ask him what he's up to-"

"You had a suspicion, s strong suspicion, but you didn't have certainty, I went and go that certainty! I didn't feel comfortable with the idea of possibly sending you into the ring with your father trying to kill you, or maybe not! I had to know for sure what we were up against!"

"I would have done that! I would have done that in my own way that didn't involve storming off after him like some half-cocked idiot!"

"Are you mad at me or are you mad are your father!"

"Wh- what?!"

"You're lashing out at me because you're mad and scared with your father! And you picked any little thing that I did in order to lash out, so before we keep going ask yourself where your anger is really directed at!"

I knew I shouldn't have said that the second it was out of my mouth, there was just something about her and her father that always got to me. Maybe it was just because it was the only part of her she would never let me help her and she constantly lashed out at me for.

Her face hardened, her nostrils flared and her eyes narrowed. She clenched her jaw and then suddenly yelled, "How can you say that?!"

She was going to go on, but Gohan and Videl suddenly came into the room.

"Oh, uh-" Gohan just stood there, not knowing what to do.

I told him without moving my eyes off Christine, "Everyone's outside."

"Uh, right," he took the hint and scurried outside with Videl.

Christine didn't continue what she was saying after the door shut. It was quiet, her eyes wandered over my face. Then she suddenly burst out crying. She tried not to sob and just hung her head and covered her face with her hands. I walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I shouldn't have said that, I crossed the line," I said, I was never one big on apologies, but this time I felt I needed to, "I'm sorry, I know how hard anything with your father is for you, I just let my anger get to me."

"No, don't apologize, you did nothing you should apologize for, you just said the truth. I do lash out at you when my father's involved, and that's not right. It's just- it's so hard. My father made my life a living Hell, from day one. He never treated me like a daughter, or liked someone he cared about; I was an experiment, a tool and he took every advantage he could with me. I hated my life, myself, I hated every man I met I hated everything, until I met you. I tried to make my life happier, I tried to make connections and get away from him but you were the one who made it happened. You were the one who turned my world around, and whenever Greyjia comes in I feel like I have to separate you from it as much as possible because you're two different people and times and places in my life. I know it's impossible and stupid, but I worry that if I let the two worlds mix I might lose this one, this one that I love so much."

"It's not stupid. Greyjia is trying to take away all the things you enjoy now. He hates our kids, and us but he can hate us all he wants, because I know that we will never allow him to ruin our life. It's just not going to happen Christine."

She stared into my eyes for a while and then sighed, "Thank you."

"How bout we go and see what the kids are up to, and worry about Greyjia when we get to our tournament?"

She smiled, "I'd like that."

_That's all for this chapter, the next one will be about the Junior Tournament._

_Elieare _


	11. Chapter 11: The Junior Tournament

**Disclaimer: I do believe we can all read this part in our sleep: no copyrights to DBZ.**

_So I went to orientation at SFA finally. It was a 13 and half hour drive their -_- BUT the school is really awesome, I have everything I could ever need on campus or right next to it. Completely different feel and culture to the town too, I live in a city that is 80% Hispanic, so it was odd to go to Nacogdoches and not see a lot of Mexicans and not hear Spanish everywhere. Everyone had that Texas drawl too (and I wish with all my might that I do not pick it up). I registered for classes and I have an ID and I got a free T-shirt, so it was fun. I hit bad weather on the way back though; I had to watch out for tornados. My side view mirrors fold in and at one point the wind got so bad it started pushing them in, and then I got closer to Midland and Odessa, and the wind wasn't as bad, but they have a lot of that fine red sand. Going into the dust storm I had this red van about ten feet in front of me and when they entered it all I could see was their back lights and I was like O.o it was very interesting._

**Chapter 11: The Junior Tournament**

"Hey, you guys came out just in time," Kuririn said as Christine and I rejoined everyone.

"Oh?" Christine replied.

"Yeah," Gohan looked at us holding hands and grinned, "it's about to be very interesting. Alucard will face whoever wins this next battle, which is Goten vs. Selena after Trunks goes against this boy with a mullet. Then Trunks and Ryu fight each other, and whoever wins that one will fight in the finals against either Alucard, Goten or Selena."

"That should prove to be a very intense finale," I grinned. I knew that Alucard was stronger than the twins and would most likely make it to the finals, I didn't really know Goten's strength, but I was pretty sure Alucard could win. Although he was very shy and mild-mannered outside of battle, when he fought, he became a different person.

Selena and Goten stepped into the ring, the announcer broadcasted on his microphone, "The next match will include one of our youngest contestants, five-year-old Selena; she will go against eight-year-old Goten! Both contestants are the offspring of former champions and tournament finalists! This should prove an interesting match, now, BEGIN!"

Goten and Selena bowed to each other, then both charged. Selena had speed on her side, although not strength. The two exchanged a flurry of blows, Selena landing more hits, but taking quite a few herself and not hurting Goten as much. Realizing this, she shot an energy beam at the tiles beneath her. This propelled her up and dazed Goten for a second. Selena then rolled in midair and used her momentum to slam her knee into Goten's face. The Saiyan boy went careening back, bouncing on the ring and looking like he would land out of bounds. He stopped his fall inches from the ground. Selena charged him, trying to take advantage of the opportunity, but Goten recovered before she could. The boy fired a chi blast that she took head on and charged after her. Selena flew away, blindly at first, but then regained her bearings. Goten kept attacking with punches and kicks. Selena blocked and countered, making sure never to take a blow directly since Goten was stronger than her.

This continued for a good fifteen minutes until Goten finally nailed Selena with a kick, sending her out of the air towards the ring. She broke her fall and looked up at Goten, who remained in the air.

He took in a deep breath and yelled, "Banzai!"

Goten flew as fast as he could straight for Selena who waited there until the last possible second and then got out of the way. Goten had expected this though. He hit the floor in a way that sent him right for her. Selena didn't have enough time to get out of the way. The blow made her skid across the ring and land face down out of bounds. As the announcer proclaimed Goten's victory, Selena got up and dusted herself off, "Aw phooey."

She met up with Goten as he got off the ring and said, "That was fun, we should do it again sometime."

"Yeah, you were way better than I thought you'd be."

"Looks like your youngest takes after you Goku," I said.

He grinned, "Yours isn't that much different from you either, when they all get older it will be hard to keep up with them."

"Especially with my boy," Vegeta added.

I inwardly smiled at Vegeta's pride in his son, having a child had changed him too. He would never have shown any emotion for Trunks before, even pride, which he showed quite often.

The next match was rather uneventful for us, Trunks knocked out the mullet-sporting boy with a single blow. I did not a slight disturbance with mullet boy's mother against Bulma, but Chi-Chi took care of things. Alucard and Goten were finally asked to report to the ring. Alucard looked nervously at all the people in the stands and gulped, and Goten skipped quite contently to the ring. Alucard became so nervous he tripped on the first stair. I never could figure out why the boy was so timid out of battle, it could be irritating at times. He wasn't always so nervous either, as a baby he wasn't as outgoing as the twins, but he wasn't terrified of people the way he was now. Christine would always assure me it was just a phase he would get over as he got older, but I secretly would work on his self-confidence anyways.

Like in Goten's last match, the two bowed to each other when they were told to begin. Goten charged again. Alucard slid into a fighting stance and waited for Goten to come to him. When Goten was close enough, Alucard dove down, getting below his opponent, and then he leaped up and kicked Goten in the stomach, catching him off guard. Goten flew upwards, Alucard following. My kid slammed Goten with a double-fisted-blow and slammed into the falling half-Saiyan with his shoulder, sending Goten out of bounds. Goten recovered however and fired a Kamehameha right at Alucard. Alucard stood his ground and batted the Kamehameha with his hands.

Goten hadn't put a lot of power behind his attack, he had used it as a decoy. Goten head-butted Alucard; right after the blast had been deflected. Alucard took the blow and spun around, clipping Goten with his foot. The kick hadn't really hurt Goten, but it threw him off balance. Alucard steady himself and fired a weak Masenko-ha at Goten. Goten sort of blocked it, but he took most of it and it meant he wasn't going to be able to dodge Aluacard's next attack. Before Alucard hit though, Goten went Super Saiyan and flew up.

"Goten, you idiot!" Gohan hissed.

Alucard shot a chi blast out of his feet to propel him up, reminding me of a maneuver I saw Goku use once on me. This stunt shot him above Goten, where Alucard chopped the back of his neck. Goten lost his Super Saiyan state as he fell to the ring. Goten landed face down, but the impact flipped him over, he was unconscious.

The announcer counted and declared Alucard the winner. Alucard went over to Goten and gave him a lit slap on the face, when that didn't wake him up Alucard said, "Hey Goten, it's lunch time."

Goten popped up so fast Alucard had to jump away to avoid being head-butted.

"Where's the food?" Goten said.

Alucard laughed, "I'm not sure, I just said that to wake you up, I'm sure there are snacks or something somewhere though.

"Aw, okay. Wait! Does that mean you won?"

Alucard scratched the back of his head, "Uh, yeah, sorry."

"Aw, man," Goten pouted, "oh well, I still had fun." He jumped up and the two exited the ring as Trunks and Ryu entered it.

"Wow, Goten can go Super Saiyan!" Goku exclaimed.

"Yeah, so can Trunks," Gohan added, "it surprised me too, I mean it took so much work for us to do, but they achieved it like it was nothing."

"Wow, these kids are going to leave us in the dust if we're not careful," Goku said with a huge grin on his face.

I grunted, "Perhaps."

~/^**^\~

Meanwhile, on an island far from the Tournament

(3rd person POV)

The man wore a grey cloak and a red mask. He was one of Greyjia's men. His presence and all he was about to unleash was unknown to the Z warriors, for now at least. He scribbled something on the ground, and then produced a large black stone from his cloak. He infused his _chi_ into the stone. It glowed red and a gateway appeared before him. He guided the stone into its proper place on the gate. A loud creak and moan could be heard from the gate as heavy locks fell from their place. Heat and putrid gas hissed from it as the gateway parted and opened.

A tall man known as Dabra, the King of the Demon Plane stepped out, followed by his hunched and deformed minion, Beelzebub.

"I am impressed," Dabra spoke, "it appears your master has kept his promise. I did not think it possible for a mere mortal to welcome me into this plane, but alas, here I am. Give your gratitude to your master, you may go," he shooed the cloaked figure with his hand.

The red-masked man bowed and left.

"Ah, how nice it is to walk among these planes once more. Hm, but what is this? Did I not order Piccolo Daimao to conquer this world upon his birth Beelzebub?"

"Yes Master, you did."

"Then why does this planet feel so peaceful, and why do I sense a god still over- looking it?"

"Let me check Master," he placed his clawed hands upon the earth and read its history with his powers, "Piccolo Daimao did begin conquering this world, but he was sealed away before he could complete his mission. Years later, he was released and began his reign again, but…"

"But what?"

"He was stopped by an odd Saiyan boy."

"A Saiyan? Why would he be here?"

"It seems he was sent here to prepare the planet for Freeza, but was derailed and became the planet's protector instead."

Dabra scoffed, "Such an annoying and unstable race Saiyans are, good thing they were annihilated, so Daimao was destroyed?"

"Yes, however, he was able to create an offspring before he died."

"Ah, a Junior Piccolo?"

"Yes, but, although I definitely sense Daimao's powers in him, his not soul is not dark, in fact he has become one with the god that created him in the first place and has joined the Saiyan's side in protecting this place."

"What a nuisance. I do not wish to reside over this planet once we have conquered it. Resurrect Piccolo Daimao, Beelzebub."

"Yes Master, it should only take a few minutes."

The deformed demon slashed his wrist and began drawing a complex formula on the ground with his own blood. Five minutes later, the magic circle was about 15 feet in diameter. Beelzebub snapped his fingers and three small demons came to his side. Beelzebub killed the three and placed their corpses in the center of the circle. He moved outside of his formula and placed his hands on the ground, sending his _chi_ into his blood on the floor. The circle glowed with a dark light; the blood was sucked up by the mass of flesh in the center, which slowly took a form familiar to the Z warriors. A black film covered Daimao's body, but when the ritual was complete it shattered off and Piccolo was reborn.

"Welcome back," Dabra smiled.

"It is good to be back my lord," Daimao bowed, "I have been watching the Earth and my disgraceful son from Hell ever since my death and have had no greater wish than to return here."

"Good, then you have a good grasp of our enemies powers?"

"Yes, my Lord."

"Very good, you should make it easier to conquer this planet. If you succeed I will be willing to forget your past failure and allow you to rule this world."

"I assure you, Lord Dabra, I will not fail again."

"Good, what is your plan of action?"

"You have a wizard named Bobbidi in your prison correct?"

"That deranged little weakling? Yes, why?"

"He has the power to use his opponents dark thoughts to take control of them."

"Yes I know, he tried to ensnare my mind ranting about awakening some genie named Boo, and when he failed I imprisoned him and absorbed his servants into my demons' ranks."

"I believe his powers can be used to control Vegeta, the former Saiyan Prince, and my son, and use their powers, along with our own, to destroy their friends and conquer this world."

"An intriguing plan, but what makes you sure that they cannot resist Bobbidi's control the way I did."

"I cannot be absolutely certain, unless of course, I enhance the wizards powers."

"Ah, and what will stop him from using these enhanced powers on us?"

"I will in a sense, fuse my mind with his, mine being the dominant consciousness. I will simply use him as a machine, with myself at the controls, he will only be able to go after who I let and want him to go after."

Dabra laughed, "Very good Piccolo, Beelzebub, fetch the wizard Bobbidi and keep the 35th through 40th troops on call.

"Yes Master," Beelzebub bowed and departed.

"I shall wait at the throne in the Inferno Volcano Peak, come to me when you have put your plan in motion."

"Yes my Lord, fare thee well."

Dabra flew off.

Piccolo Daimao sneered, "Enjoy your time now, for your throne is not beyond my ambition Dabra. But, Son Goku and my pathetic whelp must feel the wrath of my vengeance first."

The demonic Namek sensed Dende trying to contact the warriors at the Tournament, who were engrossed in the battle between Ryu and Trunks.

"Ah, pesky little god," he sent his mind out and intercepted Dende's cry, "What do you think you're doing, brat?"

"AH! How?"

"That is not important, I can't have you warning them yet, it's too early, how bout you take a nap for a couple of hours?"

"No, I have to tell them, now stay out of my way!"

"Wrong answer." Daimao heard Dende's scream as he sent a mental signal that would shut down the boy's brain for at least half of the day.

"Good, now that he's out of the way," Piccolo mused to himself as he prepared to meditate, "it is time to focus myself and prepare."

~/^**^\~

Back at the Tournament

(1st person POV from Piccolo)

As, expected, Trunks defeated Ryu and moved on to fight Alucard in the finals. They were taking a break before the last battle when I felt an odd sensation in the pit of my stomach. I wasn't sure what it meant; it reminded me of times that impending doom loomed in front of us. I figured it was just because we were that much closer to fighting Greyjia again and pushed it into the back of my thoughts. Alucard and Trunks made their way to the ring. Alucard was even more nervous than before, but he managed not to trip on the stairs this time. The announcer told them to begin. They bowed to each other.

_All for this chapter. I debated for a while whether I wanted the story to take this direction or not and then decided that I did. The next chapter shall conclude the Junior Tournament and begin the Adults, but will the evil lurking in the darkness strike and ruin the Z warriors' day of fun?_

_Elieare_


	12. Chapter 12: Prelude

**Disclaimer: If I owned the copyrights to DBZ I wouldn't write on .**

_So I finally got everything off my ancient desktop and onto my nice new spiffy laptop and I got my internet transferred over, yay!_

**Chapter 12: Prelude**

_("…imagine just beyond your peripheral vision, maybe behind you, maybe to the side of you, maybe even in front of you, but right where you can't see it, something is quietly closing in on you, so quiet in fact, you can only hear its silence…But don't look." – _House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski)

Trunks learned from Goten's fight with Alucard and did not charge head-on, instead he came from a side and fired a _chi_ blast. Alucard ran straight forward and fired a _chi_ blast to intercept Trunks's. Trunks jumped up to avoid getting hit by the clashing energy's aftershock. Alucard leapt up and closed in on Trunks. The two exchanged a flurry of blows; neither landing a solid hit on the other. Alucard sent _chi_ to his hands and clapped them together. The stunt caused a shockwave that sent Trunks flying back. Alucard had erected a force field the second his hands came together so he avoided any backlash.

Alucard tucked his fist closed to his body and charged his _chi_ to it, "_Hyrakuh-shan-sho_(One-Handed Cannon)!"

He outstretched his arm, keeping his hand a fist. His _chi_ circled around his fist in the shape of the barrel of a cannon and a highly condensed ball of _chi_ fired at the disoriented Trunks at high speeds. Trunks took the blast in the chest. He careened out of control towards the ground; Alucard fired another shot. With a burst of his Super Saiyan powers, Trunks dodged and landed back on the ring, his shirt hanging off one shoulder. Alucard's second shot created a large cloud of dust, which my kid flew in to.

"I'll admit Namek," Vegeta mocked, "your boy has some interesting moves, but my boy is a completely different caliber, he comes from better stock after all."

I grunted. Christine grinned in a musing way.

Trunks focused on the dust cloud where Alucard had flown and erased his _chi_ presence, the nine-year-old half-Saiyan waiting for whatever Alucard was preparing. When the dust cleared though, there was no sign of Alucard. Trunk's face went from serious to surprised and then focused again. Alucard appeared behind Trunks and struck. Trunks took the hit, and kicked back, landing his blow to Alucard's chin. Then Trunks twirled around and landed another kick to Alucard's jaw and finished his combo with a fierce punch to Alucard's stomach and a _chi_ blast that Alucard swerved to take in the back.

After that, they exchanged more rapid blows, but this time, Alucard was slowly gaining the upper hand. Sensing this, Trunks went Super Saiyan again and flew up to get away from Alucard. My kid raised his _chi_ right to the limit of his normal state and followed, much to Trunks's surprise (and I must admit, my surprise as well) he was able to keep up with the Super Saiyan speeds. Alucard rammed his head into Trunks' stomach and then hit him with a cyclonic kick that sent Trunks towards the crowd. Trunks desperately tried to slow his momentum to avoid touching the stadium; it appeared he would succeed too. His feet just barely tapped one of the concrete stadium seats.

He looked down in horror and annoyance, "What?! NO WAY!"

The announcer dutifully announced Trunks' disqualification and Alucard's winning of champion in the Junior Tournament. Trunks powered down and crossed his arms, glaring at Alucard and possibly fighting back tears. Alucard landed in the ring and shrank away from Trunks' glare. He sheepishly smiled and blushed when the announcer raised his arm to show his victory. Trunks scoffed at some thought that came to his head and sneered in a way that looked like someone had taken a plaster of Vegeta's sneer and placed it on a nine-year-old's face. Then the half-Saiyan sauntered over to where Goten was, his hands stuffed in his pockets.

"_So much for better stock_," Christine sent me telepathically. I couldn't help but make my laughing grunt and smile. Vegeta was dead quiet. The crowd erupted as that fool Mr. Satan came out and stepped into the ring. The bizarre human grabbed his leg for a second, faking an injury the way he had faked one at the Cell Game's no doubt, and then after the announcer said something he perked up like he was completely fine and then he whispered something to Alucard. I couldn't hear over all the ridiculous praise and cries for the pathetic human.

Then the "match" started and Hercule stuck his face out and pointed to his jaw, like he was daring Alucard to punch him. Alucard punched him lightly, but the weakling went flying out of the ring and hit a wall anyways. Videl's eyes bugged out. Christine lightly rubbed her forehead and sighed. Gohan had a look of shear terror. Alucard's face was pretty similar to Gohan's. I didn't really care. Much to my surprise, the man got back up and jokingly admitted defeat and someone in the crowd announced that it was all an act and he once again looked like a hero as he left the ring. That man was weak, but he did possess an… odd ability to fool everyone into thinking otherwise. At least he kept the media attention off of us; the last thing I'd want to deal with was hordes of nosy humans harassing me constantly.

I shifted my weight uneasily; I was still on edge. I kept trying to convince myself it was because of Greyjia, but something in my gut told me that there was something else, I just couldn't see it. I let my mind roam around the world: everything was quiet. I inwardly chided myself for being so paranoid and letting Greyjia get to me. Christine sensed my unrest, of course, she wasn't calm either, but I could tell it bothered her that I was tense. As we all left to see if there was any food for Goku to devour before our Tournamnent, I placed a hand on Christine's shoulder and sent her telepathically, "I am sorry for making you nervous, but do not worry." She bit her bottom lip but nodded.

It never ceased to amaze me the way Saiyans could eat. It caught Christine by surprise too. She had a small amount to sample the food, but she mostly she just stared at them with a mixture of awe and a little hint of disgust. While they were eating I sensed all of the children fly off to some remote area, I smiled, they had most likely wanted to continue fighting, this Tournament hardly let them reach their full potential after all. Christine looked like she was unsure of letting them out of sight like that but she seemed to come to the conclusion that humans were weak and didn't stand a chance against them. Finally, we were told to report to the drawing area where they would determine the match ups for this tournament. We all drew lots, the tournament officials wrote our names as we showed our number. When it was all said and done we couldn't help but be excited.

Round 1

Match 1: Kuririn vs. Punta

Match 2: Christine vs. 18

Match 3: Goku vs. Jewel

Match 4: The Great Saiyaman (Gohan) vs. Videl

Match 5: Vegeta vs. Mighty Mask

Match 6: Greyjia vs. Nail (Piccolo)

Match 7: Hercule vs. Killa

Round 2

Match 1A: Winner of Match 1 and 2

Match 2A: Winner of Match 3 and 4

Match 3A : Winner of Match 5 and 6

(Match 7 Winner gets a By)

Round 3(Semi-Finals)

Match 1B: Winner of Match 1A and 2A

Match 2B: Winner of Match 3A and 7

Round 4(Finals)

Winner of Match 1B and 2B

The first Round would be rather uneventful except for Christine's match and my own, but the second Round would be where it really got interesting. They had the participants as unknown be we all knew who would be fighting in those matches. It couldn't get any better, Kuririn against Christine, Gohan against Goku, Vegeta and either me or Greyjia; it would be a good tournament. Christine looked even more nervous, "_Don't worry Christine, I'll be fine._"

She squeezed my hand, "_You better be_," she glared at Greyjia as she left. I grinned and followed.

_I know I said that this one would start the adult tournament but it got long enough. Next time for sure though._

_Elieare_


	13. Chapter 13: The Fight

**Disclaimer: It's not mine, so sorry to disappoint but alas, we can't have everything we want.**

_AHHHHHH! This summer break is friggin' long. I still have a month left!_

**Chapter 13: The Fight**

Kuririn took care of Punta with a single punch. The crowd roared with cheers of amazement. Kuririn walked back to the waiting area with a huge grin on his face. There hadn't been any question that he would win, but most of the others congratulated him anyways. Christine and 18 were next. The fight was interesting for a couple minutes. 18 was powerful of course, but I could tell Christine was just testing her. The next time they broke, Christine said, "You're pretty good, I've never met someone who could keep their attacks at the same level for such a long time, your stamina must be insane."

"My stamina is unlimited. Think you can handle it, or are you going to give up?"

Christine just smiled.

18 prepared to attack again, but Christine was all ready in front of her. My wife kicked 18 in the stomach much harder than the android expected. Christine spun and kicked her again, this time, sending her to the ring. 18 barely had time to stop her fall, but Christine was in front of her again. Christine focused her power into her fist and slammed 18 with it. The android crashed into the other side of the ring and got up, her feet were shaky. 18 was disoriented from the blow, Christine swooped in and swept 18's legs from under her. Since the Android was so close to the edge, she fell out of the ring.

When the two came back Kuririn tried to comfort 18, "Well, at least she had to resort to knocking you out of the ring to win."

It didn't work very well, 18 glared at him, "Hardly, she just didn't want to draw the fight out."

Christine wasn't sure what to say so she didn't say anything.

18 turned and started leaving.

"Hey, you don't have to go," Kuririn called after her.

"I'm going to take care of Maron," she replied and flew off.

Goku knocked out Jewel with a single punch, and then Videl and Gohan stepped into the ring. Despite all his denials, I knew Gohan was attracted to Videl. He showed it in the match too. He held back his true power, and pretended like Videl's hits were actually doing damage. He was putting on a good show, and the crowd loved it. Videl wasn't convinced though. She didn't show it at first, but then it mad her so mad she slammed a knee right in –well, the area no guy every wants hit. Gohan wasn't faking the pain this time.

"You better start taking me seriously," Videl put her hands on her hips, "or I'm hitting you there until you pass out!"

"I am taking you seriously," Gohan replied, which enraged Videl even more.

She went to kick him there this time, so Gohan flew into the air. Videl followed. She started chasing him everywhere.

"_Gohan, just end it, you're only making an ass out of yourself and I want to fight Greyjia_," I sent telepathically. Gohan flew around a little more and then stopped. He caught Videl's next attack and murmured, "Sorry." Then he threw her out of the ring. Gohan landed next to her and offered his hand. Videl kicked him again. Gohan crumpled, "Hey! What was that for?!" He squeaked.

"Taking the easy way out and throwing me out the ring, the next time you step into the ring with me you better be ready to knock me out or I'll never talk to you again. She had been scowling at Gohan, but when she turned away from him she grinned and suppressed a giggle.

"Wow, never mess with her," Christine mused.

"She is a fiery one, you two should get along perfectly then," I replied. Christine punched my arm playfully. Behind her light-hearted act I could tell she was still nervous. I was anxious too, but it wasn't as strong, I guess the fight had served as a comic relief. Greyjia moved more, probably also anxious about our fight. It was only a minute away. As Vegeta and his opponent stepped into the ring, I closed my eyes to collect myself. I heard the thud as Mighty Mask hit the ring unconscious, the roar of the crowd, and Vegeta's quick strides as he walked back in annoyance. When we were called to the ring and had quelled my emotions, so that I felt nothing, well, almost nothing, I must admit a part of me was excited.

We didn't say a word to each other, just got right down to business. We warmed up briefly, and then Greyjia removed his black cloak and shirt, both of which had been weighted. He had scars from his fight against Christine. I removed my jacket and cracked my knuckles. Greyjia's _chi_ climbed, I matched it. We reengaged. He had improved greatly since we had last fought, but so had I. His speed was equal with mine, but I was just barely stronger. I felt a rib snap as I took a kick to the leg, returned the favor and added an uppercut to the stomach. He blasted me at close range, the _chi_ singing my forearms.

We went back and forth like this for a while, and then Greyjia surprised me. He transformed into the Isgamanian super state. I didn't have enough time to react. Pain turned my stomach as I took a blow to the stomach. It felt like my brain rattled in my skull from a blow to my forehead. My chest and abdomen burned from the bite of multiple _chi_ blasts, a kick to the back broke another rib. The tournament ring crumbled beneath me as I landed face first on it. A barrage of _chi_ blasts stung my back, and for a moment I think I blacked out.

The announcer was on count seven when I focused again. Greyjia was nearby. I sprung up swinging, knocking Greyjia's mask off. He was still in the super state. I knew at the level I was at right now I couldn't win, he would be faster, stronger, more powerful. I had to take a huge risk if I wanted to win this match. I couldn't just forfeit and leave him to Christine though, this was my fight, and I would win it.

I centered myself and unlocked a power I had gained from the Heart's Twined. I felt its burning energy trickle through my body that sensation that I got in my stomach when I dived in the air filling my body. My all ready keen senses sharpened, the crowd became louder, the smell and taste of blood stronger, and my eyesight could now faintly pick up the flow of _chi_ in everyone around me. A red and black symbol glowed on my chest, the normally yellow muscles of my arms, legs and stomach turned red, and –although I had never seen it, my eyes turned red too. This was my super state.

_Next time, the conclusion of this match. _

_Elieare_


	14. Chapter 14: It Remains

**Disclaimer: Alright now, let's break it down, the prefix **_**dis-**_** means not, claim means to own so a disclaimer means I don't own it, and that is exactly the case here.**

_I got to take care of my sister's turtle for a couple days. His name is Spartacus, and he has a lot of dog behaviors, first of all, he begs constantly. Second, he plays with his food before he eats it, third he follows my every movement, fourth he gets more excited when I pull out the variety food container then when I pull out the plain pellets container. Oh and he jumps out of his cage, I had to put a screen on top of his aquarium. It was fun; he's really cute - for a turtle._

**Chapter 14: It Remains**

Greyjia looked astonished at first, then he smirked, "Ah, you gained a new power from your," he spat the next word out, "_bond_ with my daughter."

I nodded. My mind was filled with a bloodlust and rage that I had gotten rid of a long time ago, a thirst I had inherited from my father. It was taking all my strength to hold it back. I clenched my fists and unclenched them, a trick I had learned a while ago to help maintain control. I could feel my hands start to shake, enraged at being denied the right to tear apart every living thing around me.

Finally, Greyjia attacked again. Usually, I focused on putting as much strength as I could behind my attacks, but now, I was focusing on holding back just enough so that I wouldn't kill him. It took him only moments to realize the gap that now separated him from me. Greyjia didn't stand a chance anymore. I started to sense fear in him; he could feel my desire to massacre, and it terrified him. I had to hold back even more now, his fear driving the pang for death deeper into me.

Everything was happening so fast, I broke one of Greyjia's arms, I dealt internal damage that made him cough up blood and rasp for breath. I crushed his nose into his face and before I knew it, my hand was around his neck, squeezing the life out of him. I had just enough control to let go before I killed him. He crumpled to my feet, gasping. The count was started. The announcer reached ten and Greyjia had not gotten up, I turned my back on him and started walking away.

Suddenly, Greyjia was in my line of sight, in front of Christine. He did something that made her grab her stomach in pain. My body felt like it moved on it's own, my desire to help Christine overruling my control. One second I was standing in the ring, the next I was behind Greyjia, my hand impaled through his chest. Christine was still in pain. I closed my eyes, trying to focus again, my mind was jumbled, too many thoughts and desires had all train wrecked in my brain.

"Well," Greyjia chuckled, "looks like we'll have to end this another time."

I opened my eyes again and removed my hand from him, raising it to strike. I spoke, my voice hoarse, "No, this ends now."

I attacked, fully intending to decapitate him, but he melted into the shadows again, my hand only hitting his cold, dark afterimage.

"Or not," I said in annoyance, mostly to myself.

Christine straightened out.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

She nodded, "I'm not sure what he was trying to do, but the pain's gone now, and nothing seems damaged. You?"

"Fine."

She walked over to me and placed her hand with the Heart Twined onto the symbol on my chest. I allowed her to lock my dark energy back into dormancy, returning me back to normal.

I felt a sudden wave of relief, followed by a calm, my soul returning to a still and peaceful state. Well, not quite, the uneasiness remained, a tiny whirlpool in my quiet sea, a tiny knot in my stomach. I had sensed demonic presences on Earth while I was in my super state, I couldn't remember where they were, and I didn't know how strong they were, but they were there. Perhaps the reason my unrest remained was because of them. I had thought that Greyjia was the storm I had been anticipating, but the fight was over, so why did it remain?

I was removed from my thoughts by a sharp sting in my ears as Christine whistled a single note.

I cringed, "Hey, what was that for?"

She smiled, "Works every time, you seemed lost for a second there."

I became aware that everyone was looking at me, "I was just thinking."

Gohan grinned, "Well we could tell that, the only time you don't answer questions like that is when you're meditating or thinking."

"You asked questions?"

Christine nodded, "Yes, several, you didn't acknowledge a single one, and you didn't even acknowledge me when I shook you a little."

Honestly, this surprised me a little, I hadn't thought too much time had passed while I was thinking, and I certainly didn't hear or feel any external stimulus. I growled in my head, I had let Greyjia effect me too much. I hadn't even been able to kill the bastard either. I suppose that bothered me the most. I decided to push him out of my mind and ignore the anxiety; he had consumed enough of my time today.

Hercule came up behind us before I said anything else. He glared at Gohan for a second – probably for beating Videl – and then continued down the hall. The announcer followed in behind him along with officials carrying an unconscious Jewel on a stretcher.

The blonde man with sunglasses said, "Hey! You guys all had amazing fights! This is the way the Tournament should be, the way I remember it. We're taking a five-minute break in between rounds, and then we'll start again. Oh and," he turned to me, "would you mind picking up your jacket? I tried to get it for you, but it was too heavy for me to even lift."

I had forgotten about my jacket, "Oh, right," I replied and walked out to get it. Leaving the announcer to continue his chat with the others.

There was still a residual dark aura near the ring from my fight. It caused a burn in my stomach, a wave in my soul, a thirst in my heart. I ignored it and picked up my jacket. I received a dull sense of the demons again. There weren't in the same place. One was severely distorted; the entire area around it was distorted too. I had sensed demons on planets before. They tended to be weaklings that knew they didn't stand a chance so they remained dormant, or ones that decided to go against their instincts and live in peace. Never though, had I sensed a distortion. What could be going on that would cause it? Was some insidious plan being placed into motion while we were here having a good time? I tugged my jacket on and growled at myself again. I was letting myself get paranoid; it was ridiculous. Enough, I decided to just forget about it. I walked back to the waiting area.

~/^**^\~

Meanwhile, on an island far from the Tournament

(3rd person POV)

Piccolo Daimao had summoned Greyjia's henchmen to help him program Bobbidi's mind. The red masked man suddenly broke his meditation.

"Where are you going?" Daimao said in a tone that was amused, although it still leaked out his anger at the interruption.

"My apologies, but my Master is in dire need of my help. He has summoned me to heal him, I cannot wait, if I do, he will die."

"Your very loyal to Greyjia."

"Thank you."

"Would you ever give up that loyalty to swear allegiance to another?"

"No, sir, never."

"Even if that person is stronger."

"No, sir."

"Your work is done here anyways."

"So may I go sir?"

"Of course."

"Thank you, sir," Greyjia's assistant bowed, and was about to leave.

"Wait, you forgot something," Daimao sneered.

"Sir?"

Daimao killed the man with a single energy beam through his skull. The body fell to the ground, the now damaged mask rolling to the side, revealing the blue-skin face of its now-dead wearer.

Daimao mocked, "So sorry my dear ally, but I knew I'd have to fight your beloved boss sooner or later. I'd rather take him out now, on my own turns. No one must be allowed to get in my way this time, no one. I have been denied my right for long enough."

Daimao flew to Greyjia's ship, where the injured man labored to breath. Greyjia tensed until he recognized Daimao, then he relaxed.

"Where is Paxt?"

Daimao walked closer to Greyjia, "That's quite a wound, who gave it to you?"

"A relative of ours, my son-in-law, your disgraceful excuse of a son, now where is PAXT?!"

"You shouldn't work yourself up Greyjia, not with a wound like that."

"Shut up, you may be important to Dabra, but you are nothing to me, now tell me where Paxt is!"

Daimao chuckled, "You really should learn to control your temper. I was once like you, quick to anger and allowing my rage to take over with even the slightest provocation. But, in the end, it only brought me defeat."

"Cease your rambling, I don't need a lecture from you!"

Daimao sighed, "Then the lectured is concluded, you should join Paxt."

Greyjia tried and failed to stand, "That's what I have been doing, now take me to him."

Daimao smirked, "As you wish. Oh, and may I suggest preparing from warm weather?"

"What? What are you-"

Daimao fired another beam, ending Greyjia's life as he had Paxt.

Daimao could not help but be pleased with himself. He laughed as he flew towards Inferno Volcano Peak to rendezvous with Dabra.

_Ah, the plot thickens. Leave your thoughts if you wish._

_-Elieare_


	15. Chapter 15: Storm

**Disclaimer: No, I don't own the rights. Yes, Akira Toriyama does. No, I am not Akira Toriyama.**

_AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! I want school to start already! I'm going stir crazy. _

_And now I'm in school. Yay! College is awesome, and Nacogdoches is beautiful. I love SFA; I have an arboretum right by my dorm and everything._

**Chapter 15: The Storm**

"Your super state is pretty intense Piccolo," Gohan said when I walked back in.

I smirked, "That, is an understatement."

He laughed, "it was strange, you looked so in control, but your attacks were so vicious."

"In control? An illusion I assure you, I can suppress the urges I gain when I go into that state, but nothing more."

"Really? What do you want to do?"

Christine took the opportunity to jump in, "Oh, go on a homicidal spree and generally act like a maniac."

"Thank you, thank you," I said sarcastically, with a fake smile.

She laughed, "Well you do, and I'm really glad you don't do that anymore, so it's something we just have to look back on and laugh at."

"Easy for you to say," I retorted, "you're not the one who becomes a homicidal maniac."

They all laughed, and Christine wrapped her arm around mine. I knew the problem with Brejak was still rolling around in her mind, but she was trying her hardest not to show it, not to even acknowledge it. She was trying to move on, and I wasn't about to do anything to discourage that.

"You know, you guys are pretty cute together," Kuririn teased.

"Yeah, and you're pretty different now Piccolo," Gohan added.

"Mainly you have a sense of humor now," Kuririn finished.

I wasn't really sure what to say to that, so I said nothing and just stared in the direction I had sensed the demonic distortion. Christine said something for me. I'm not entirely sure what, I was being drawn to the distortion. My thoughts weren't wandering like before though, this felt like someone was actually trying to ensnare my mind into the distortion.

I felt a sudden mental tug. I dug in my heels before it grabbed me entirely. I received a faint image. I couldn't make it out enough to know what it was, just vague moving shapes that could be people. Then I heard my name, said by someone who sounded a lot like my sire, but that couldn't be, he was dead. Then all of a sudden the picture cleared, it was the kids. They were attacked by someone I couldn't see and then Alucard cried, "Dad!"

My mind was thrown back into my skull, the tournament room returning to my senses. Christine had picked up the last part of the telepathic episode, "Alucard!"

I knew something else was wrong, why had I ignored it? No, now wasn't the time. I felt a large _chi_ suddenly appear not too far from the stadium. Everyone else could sense it now too.

"What is that?" Gohan said.

"I-it couldn't be," Kuririn stuttered and shook a little.

Goku had a mixed expression, part of it was confusion, and part of it was excitement.

"Do you know who that is?" Christine asked, a frantic edge making her voice squeak a little and stinging my ears.

"Yes," I said, "looks like today is official family reunion day. It's my father."

She looked at me, "Your father? Gee we gave our children horrible grandparents don't you think?"

I grinned at her stress-dealing joke, "agreed, now let's get going, the children's _chis_ are steady, but I don't like it."

Kuririn gulped, "A-all of us?"

"No, none of you have to come, enjoy your tournament, but we're leaving," I said and flew off, Christine right behind me.

Goku, Vegeta, and Gohan joined us not too long after.

"So how do you think Daimao came back to life?" Goku asked.

"I don't know, and I don't care," I replied.

"I've always wondered what you father was like," Gohan commented absent-mindedly.

I looked back at him with what Christine called my "freak look".

He blushed, and cried defensively, "Well I have!"

I was going to inquire why, but the pursuit seemed senseless to me so I just turned my attention back to Daimao's _chi_.

As we got closer to him, the children's _chis _suddenly moved to outside the distortion and then into it.

"Great they moved the kids," Christine cursed.

"We'll probably have to beat the location out of them," Vegeta grinned.

"Why? We just have to go to the distortion field," I said.

"What distortion field?" Gohan asked.

The one due west of us, where the kids went and then disappeared into."

"I can't sense it," Goku said.

"Neither can I, even when our minds are linked, are you sure it's there," Christine said.

I rechecked it and found it, "Yes, we should break into two groups, one to go after the kids and one to confront Daimao."

"Well, you'll have to go with the group rescuing the kids, you're the only one who can sense this distortion," Gohan said.

"No, Daimao is summoning me, he wants to see me face to face, if I don't confront him he'll just go after me, I can give Christine the exact location."

"That's fine with me, who's going with me?" Christine asked.

"I'm not, I want to see Daimao," Gohan said.

"I can't wait to fight Daimao again, he was the first archenemy I ever had, I want to see how much he's improved," Goku said.

"I'm sure as hell not going on some stupid rescue mission," Vegeta bickered.

The Saiyan trio suddenly stopped to argue.

Christine and I stopped too.

"While they're settling that, let's link so you know where to go," I told her.

She nodded; we grabbed hands and closed our eyes. I gave her all the information I had on the location, the distortion, and my father, I tried to keep any emotions out of the transfer, but I could tell I was slightly unsuccessful. One of the things I hated about linking. Everyone thought I was emotionless, but the truth was that I was just good at hiding my emotions, but the link betrayed my cover. The transfer finished, we opened our eyes.

Goku suddenly shouted, "Aw man!!! Dammit, I wanted to see Daimao too."

I looked over and saw the end of a rock-paper-scissors match, Gohan and Vegeta with their fists out and Goku with two fingers. Crude, but effective, I secretly felt relieved that Christine would be aided by such a powerful and trustworthy ally, although I would never tell Son that, and I certainly would never let Christine know, she would knock the wind out of me when I least expected it for not trusting in her abilities.

"I take it you three have decided?" Christine asked.

"Yeah," Goku pouted.

"Oh cheer up," Christine said, "now you'll get to face new enemies you know nothing about, they may even be stronger then Daimao."

Like a child, Goku instantly perked up again, excitement shining in his eyes, "Oh yeah! Let's get going!"

Christine laughed. She turned back to me. "I swear if you don't live through this I'm going to curse you for as long as I live, but- if that's not a motivation enough," she leaned in, placed her hand on my cheek -her fingers soft and delicate despite the strength they contained- and placed a rather passionate and long kiss on my lips. My eyes closed, a fire that birthed desired suddenly burned in my stomach. It always amazed me how she could do that to me with such a simple action. She whispered in Namekian, "There's more where that came from…later." Then she removed her hand, smiled and took off, Goku right behind her.

There was a pause as they disappeared into the west; her action had dazed me, thrown me off so much I almost forgot why we were separating. The power a woman holds is amazing indeed.

"Oh how cute," Vegeta sneered, "the little couple got their last kiss, I'm so touched I could barf."

"Aw, I don't know, I thought it was pretty romantic," Gohan said as he took off his sunglasses and bandana, probably realizing a disguise was no longer necessary.

"Shut up!" I barked, "let's go, we have work to do."

I reclaimed my usual posture and returned to my flight, the others right next to me. Two foreign _chis_ popped up next to Daimao when we had gotten within fifty meters. They came into view as we flew over the hill. Daimao stood with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face. Next to him stood a figure dressed like Greyjia had been at the tournament, but with a green mask. On his other side there was an odd wrinkled, gaunt and yellow midget, whose _chi_ was unsubstantial, but strange.

"Glad you could join us, my son." Daimao greeted, "I see you brought friends, the Saiyan Prince and the half-breed who poisoned your soul."

"What do you want?" I demanded.

"I will rule this world and many more, and you will join me by my son."

"Not a chance, 'dad'," I said, flinging my heavy jacket to the floor and getting into a fighting stance. Gohan slid into a similar fighting stance and Vegeta moved into his.

Daimao laughed, "Very good, I thought you had lost your warrior's spirit, but I see you are still salvageable."

"Shut up and fight old man," I growled.

"Kerloz, my son is mine, and mine alone, use the Dark Prince over there to keep his teenage friend occupied," Daimao ordered. The green masked man nodded and the yellow midget's eyes glowed blue. Vegeta suddenly cried out and grabbed his head.

"Vegeta?!" Gohan cried.

I swerved to look at the Saiyan, a mistake.

"_You've become weak_," Daimao said in my mind as he crashed into my chest, slamming me into the hill we had passed on our way over. I recovered quickly; Daimao did not continue his charge. Gohan tried to join me, but an energy field that enclosed Daimao and I prevented him.

"Now it's just me, and you. It's time you stopped denying your heritage and live up to your destiny," Daimao yelled, wrath betrayed in his voice.

"My destiny is my own old man, I chose the path I'm on now, and I'm not going back, destiny can be damned."

"Then I'll have to beat sense into you," he took on a serious battle stance.

Outside the force field, Vegeta's chi suddenly erupted, going well past Gohan's during the Cell Games, but he was different. An M appeared on his forehead, and a look I hadn't seen since his first arrival on Earth came to his face.

"Vegeta? Are you okay?" Gohan asked.

"I'm better than I've been in a long time. I am the Prince of all Saiyans, you and your father may have surpassed me in the past, but that changes today. You will both bow to my power, starting with you!" Vegeta attacked Gohan as Daimao attacked me. I felt my anxiety replaced with excitement and adrenaline; the storm had come, and I was more than happy to weather it.

_I had hoped to get more fighting into this chapter, but it was getting a little long. In case I didn't make it obvious enough, the gaunt yellow midget is Bobbidi. As always, leave your thoughts if you so desire._

Elieare


	16. Chapter 16: Clash

**Disclaimer: Not mine. It's a fanfiction based off DBZ which is own by Akira Toriyama.**

_College life: you're dead to the world, but you're happy._

_Seriously it's a lot of fun, but a lot of work._

_I miss my two guinea pigs and my doogie though…_

**Chapter 16: Clash**

Daimao was a lot stronger than Greyjia, I could tell right off. He was very different from the memories I had of him. His attacks weren't as driven by rage any more. He was so powerful now too. I wouldn't be able to beat him without activating my super state. The first chance I got to transform I took. He had thrown a barrage of _chi_ blasts; I dodged them all and increased the distance between us. After his last blast he hesitated only for a moment before charging me. I took that opportunity. Daimao stopped abruptly as I ascended to what I called my Heart's Twined state since it was an enhancement I could only achieve through my bond with Christine. Yes it spawned from my heritage, but it also came from Christine, one of the experiments Greyjia conducted on Christine was the infusion of demonic energy within her body. Greyjia wasn't exactly an angel himself either.

Daimao stopped dead in his tracks and sneered, "Well, well, it's about time. I've always wanted to see you face to face like this after the first time I witnessed your transformation from my place in Hell."

I controlled myself long enough to say, "You've been watching me?"

"Of course, I had to know exactly what I was up against when I got out," his _chi _suddenly shot up. To my surprise, he leveled of when were dead even in power. I let only a moment of shock betray itself on my face, and then let my anger replace it.

I drowned out everything else, Gohan's fight with Vegeta, Christine and Goku disappearing into the distortion field, everything. Daimao and I traded blows evenly; there was no difference in speed or technique the way there was in between Greyjia and me. There was also the fact that –despite all the changes in style we both had- we knew what the other was thinking, we knew how we would react and attack. It was advantageous in that I could block every blow Daimao tried, but detrimental in that he could do the same back. This fight wouldn't be won by wits or a difference in stamina; it would only be won if one of us made a mistake. I focused on making sure that it wasn't me.

After a particularly vicious exchange of blows and blocks I saw a mistake. Daimao had dropped his arm. It was only an inch, but it was plenty. I unleashed a mighty _chi_ blast at point blank in that gap. Daimao took the full force of it and slammed into the wall of his own force field, then to the floor. I fired multiple chi blasts and then landed. It wasn't over yet, but I had the upper hand now, and Daimao couldn't get it back. At least I thought he couldn't.

Daimao stood up laughing in the crater he was in as the dust cleared.

"What's so funny old man," I jested.

"Your arrogance. Do you really think a whelp like you could beat me? I created you, you are the copy, and I am the original, you will never surpass me."

I was about to return with a snide remark, but Daimao's _chi_ suddenly spiked much above my own. He disappeared in a cloud of black and reappeared before me so fast I thought he must have learned Goku's Teleportation technique somehow. Daimao's knee slammed into my chest. Pain seared by lungs as I heard a snap. I closed my eyes as my breath shot from me as if I was a balloon popping. Daimao teleported behind me and fired a _chi_ blast that seared my bare back. I stifled a cry. The force of the blast slammed me into the force field, and Daimao elbowed me into the ground and fired multiple _chi_ blasts -payback no doubt.

My body surged with pain from burns and bruises as a stumbled to my feet. I hissed through gritted teeth as I came up short in breath again, cursing myself for allowing him to catch me off guard. At least one of my ribs was definitely broken and had punctured one of my lungs.

Daimao laughed again, "Are you beginning to see your inadequacy? It can be fixed, if you join me again."

It was my turn to laugh, although mine was more a wheeze then a laugh, "I should thank you."

He tilted his head, and then smiled, "Perhaps I knocked more sense into you than I thought."

"Indeed," I replied, "smacking into the force field was all I needed to realize it."

"Oh?"

"Yes, it's quite convenient actually. It not only causes no one on the outside to harm us, but it also means that we cannot harm anyone on the outside either."

I focused; I had known for a while that I had more than one Heart Twined state. Ever since Christine broke through the first state barrier of her super state. I had never activated it though because I was worried I couldn't control myself in it. As it was I could barely handle the first state. It didn't matter if I could control it now though. I reached the wall of the first state and tore through it. The power rushed through me so suddenly I let out my breath even faster than just a few moments ago when Daimao winded me. I felt that odd sensation that one gets when they suddenly jump into a pool of freezing water. For a few seconds, you can't take in a breath and your body registers an odd combination of numbness or extreme tension. This feeling peaked and then washed away, replaced by exhilaration due to the shear amount of power I know had at my disposal. I was pleased to find that I could control myself now, it was actually much easier, the bloodlust still remained, but it had been dampened. This had been true for Christine's second state as well (although she never had the same amount of blood thirst as I did), she had theorized that it was because the first state was unlocked through rage, but the second was through discipline.

Whatever the real reason was, I was free from the first state haze and Daimao was nowhere close to my strength anymore. Although I did not check, I also assumed that like Christine, whose hair and eyes turned red in her first state and sky blue in the second, the muscles of my arms and eyes had changed colours to that same sky blue, so not only was my _chi _drastically different, but so was my appearance. I had expected fear or shock from Daimao; after all, he never saw this state either. If he was though, not an inkling of it showed on his face. Actually, just the opposite was in his facial expression, he was gloating, happy. The force field abruptly fell.

"What are you plotting?" I asked.

"You shall see, meet me at the distortion field," he said to me and then turned to the man he had called Kerloz, "I have changed my mind, my son's mind is all yours," he flew off.

I went to chase him, ignoring Kerloz, thinking he wasn't a threat, my second folly in the fight. I was paralyzed as a sudden mental knife stabbed into my mind. My defenses were raised, so I wasn't immediately overwhelmed by it, but it certainly stopped my pursuit. I focused on the mental attack and distinguished two different attackers, which explained why my mental barriers were buckling. One was that midget, Bobbidi was the name I got from him, the other was Kerloz, who seemed to be in control of Bobbidi, there was also Daimao in the attack, but it wasn't coming from him, it was just something he helped manufactured. I grunted as another one of my defenses fell, I could feel Bobbidi trying to convince me to forget the path I was on and join Daimao's side. He promised more power than I even had now, among other things. I ignored him mentally and tried to attack him physically, but the mental link allowed my enemies to send a surge of pain and slight paralysis so that I couldn't.

I contacted Gohan, who was in deadlock with Vegeta, mentally, "_Gohan! Kill the yellow midget, he's a wizard and the one controlling Vegeta, he's trying to control me too_!"

"_R-really? But- uhn- if I ignore Vegeta he'll_-"

"_JUST HURRY KID I CAN'T LAST OUT MUCH LONGER!!!"_ I bellowed telepathically and collapsed to my knees, hissing in pain as the two heightened their attack. I was losing; I could feel my mind flying from my control. I couldn't let it happen. I kept trying to focus but I couldn't. I couldn't lose though, I couldn't. My mind was slowly starting to become dark. I saw Gohan try to kill Bobbidi, Vegeta with his arms crossed, letting him do it. Kerloz batted Gohan out of the way though.

I tried again to attack while Kerloz was preoccupied, but I failed again, almost completely collapsing this time. It wouldn't be much longer, Gohan couldn't do anything, Vegeta wouldn't do it and I was incapacitated. Just when I thought my last defense would fall I heard, "_Ki-enza_ (I'm hoping this is at least somewhat close to what Kuririn's Destrocto Disk is called in the manga, but since I left the manga at home I'm not sure)!"

Kuririn's energy disc sliced through the wizard so effortlessly one would think his body was nothing more than paper. Instantly the mental assault was lifted from my mind, and Vegeta collapsed.

I destroyed Kerloz with a single blow.

"Kuririn!" Gohan exclaimed, "Nice timing!"

Kuririn grinned, "You guys didn't really think I could just let you have all the fun now did you?"

I grinned and muttered my gratitude. Vegeta stirred and stood up; the M on his forehead was gone. He appeared to be back to normal, although his newfound strength remained.

"Are you alright Vegeta?" Gohan asked hesitantly, still remaining in a shallow fighting stance.

"Of course I'm alright brat, I was never not alright, I was merely using the wizard and you to test my new strength," the proud Saiyan snapped and crossed his arms.

I felt an argument coming on so I intervened, "We need to follow Daimao, he's planning something, and I want to know what. He told me to meet him at the distortion field, so that's where I'm going." I took to the sky and flew off, the others right behind me, allow Vegeta was yelling at me for trying to order him around and assuring us all that he was only coming along because he wanted a good fight and nothing more. Gohan and Kuririn snickered, but didn't dare say anything in reply. I tried to contact Christine, but the distortion field was interfering with our link. My ribs still pained, and I had to catch my breath here and there, but for the most part I was uninjured. Whatever was waiting for us in the distortion, we were ready for.

_Next time, Daimao's evil plot is finally revealed. Will Piccolo have no choice but to join his father's side? And what about the other warriors? Will any of them fall to this current evil? As always, leave your thoughts if you wish (and I have to admit, after 4 new chapters and not a single new review I'm leaning more towards you wishing to leave your thoughts :P)._

_Elieare_


	17. Chapter 17: Disaster

**Disclaimer: Guess what? I **_**still **_**don't own the rights to DBZ (nor will I in the near future).**

_I'm sick :( although that means I'm staying in my room more, which means I'm more likely to write._

**Chapter 17: Disaster**

As we got closer to the distortion field, my _chi_ sensors became duller and duller, until I couldn't even recognize my own _chi_ signature. Gohan, Kuririn and Vegeta experienced the same problem.

"I don't like it," Kuririn commented, "if we have to go somewhere dangerous I'd at least like to be able to know how many enemies there are."

"Agreed," Gohan said, "we'll have to be extra careful, we don't want to fly head-on into a trap."

"So what's the plan?" Kuririn asked.

"We have little choice," I said, "it is indeed a disadvantage to fight the enemy on their home turf and without knowledge of their skill and number, but we lack the time to improve our information. We are used to being able to use our mind in battle too, but right now, our best chance is to use our fists and sort out the details later."

Vegeta smirked, "I think that's the most intelligent thing I've ever heard from your mouth Namek. We are warriors, it doesn't matter who the enemy is or how many of them there are, we'll take them all out. Only cowards run away when the odds are against them."

Kuririn sighed and mumbled low enough that only I heard him, "I shoulda stayed with 18 and won the tournament."

Gohan was still uncomfortable but agreed, "…I can't exactly leave Goten on his own, and besides, Dad's in there, so at least we have allies."

The rest of our flight remained silent. After traveling over the ocean for a few minutes, a massive volcano appeared before us. I could see Daimao near the top of it, waiting for us. He hovered above several tunnels that led into the volcano. We all stopped and faced him.

"You're outnumbered and outgunned Daimao," I said.

He chuckled, "Bravado will get you nowhere, my son. There are ten tunnels below us, two lead to the arena chamber, the rest lead to other portions of the volcano. Only one person is allowed into each tunnel. I await one of you in the arena," Daimao disappeared with puff of black smoke as he had when I fought him.

"Who does he think he is," Vegeta growled.

"He's just splitting us up to try and weaken us." I replied.

"Then let's not let him," Gohan said.

"Two of the tunnels are sealed, no doubt the ones Goku and Christine took. If they didn't figure a way around being split up, neither will we," I said.

"But we don't know if they actually tried to get around it, they may have decided splitting up would cover more ground anyways."

"So what should we do?" Kuririn asked.

"Well, two of us can fit into one of the openings at the same time, so if you and me fly in exactly together we can both be in the same tunnel, Piccolo and Vegeta can do it too with another tunnel."

"I refuse to share a tunnel with the Namek- actually, I refuse to be toyed with by this whole thing," Vegeta yelled and charged an energy blast.

"What are you doing Vegeta?" Gohan tensed.

I folded my arms over my chest, curious to see what the Saiyan intended to do with the blast.

Vegeta sneered, "making a new tunnel."

"Wait!" Gohan yelled and tried to stop him, but Vegeta had already let go of the blast.

I waited for the smoke the impact would undoubtedly cause, but instead the blast was absorbed by the rocks, leaving absolutely no trace of the blast.

Vegeta snorted in indignation and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Vegeta! What if our friends were still in those tunnels, or the volcano collapsed! It woulda killed them!"

"Spare me the lecture, none of them are that weak," Vegeta scoffed.

I intervened again, "Gohan, try your plan, if it doesn't work than just take a separate tunnel. Vegeta, do what you want-"

"You don't have to tell me to do what I want Namek," he snapped and flew into one of the tunnels, the door slammed shut behind him.

Gohan sighed, "I don't see how all three of us can fit into one tunnel."

"It's okay kid, I can take care of myself," I said.

"I know…well here it goes, Kuririn, grab onto my shoulders and I'll fly us in there, that way, we know for sure that we made it in at the same time."

"Huh? Oh, okay."

The two entered the tunnel next to Vegeta's, the door again slammed shut. I was about to go into one of the tunnels when Gohan suddenly appeared outside again, teleported out of the tunnel no doubt.

"Well, guess we're all on our own," I said.

Gohan's brow furrowed, "Yeah, I guess so."

"Relax kid, we always work things out, and besides, even if everyone here dies, the Dragon Balls are still able to bring us all back."

He loosened up a little, "Yeah, although I hope it doesn't come to that."

I grunted and flew into the tunnel.

The slamming door reverberated through the tunnel and made my ears ring. I hesitated for a moment as my eyes adjusted to the sudden darkness. I felt very awkward. I couldn't see, I could sense any chi, couldn't hear a sound or smell anything. I could just vaguely feel walls al around me. I floated forward cautiously and stopped just short of another wall. It was a dead end, but I had only gone a couple feet. Was this all a trap? I was about to turn around and feel the walls for another gap when the sound of stone shifting came from the wall. The dead end I still had my hand on suddenly opened, filling the tunnel with light. I squinted and moved forward, the stone shifted back into place behind me. I was now in a shaft that angled downwards into a large, well-lit room.

As I came out of the shaft movement suddenly caught my attention, a kick coming towards me. I moved to block it, but the attacker froze before making contact, "Piccolo?"

"Christine!"

My wife relaxed and smiled, "I see you finally tried out the next state."

I examined her quickly and sighed with relief.

She chuckled, "Yes, I am uninjured. Goku and I came to the volcano and found this odd little demon who told us that his master was waiting for us in the Throne Room and that two of the ten tunnels led to it."

"Daimao led us here and told us something similar, although he said he would be in the arena."

"So this is either a trap, or we have more than one enemy here."

"Yes, I doubt Daimao was able to do all of this on his own, he had to know someone on this side in order to bring him back from the dead."

"Any ideas who it could be?" Christine placed a hand onto my chest near my broken rib and healed it.

"No, if a new threat had found its way to Earth, Dende would have told us, but I can't think of anyone on Earth who could raise Daimao."

Daimao laughed from above, "Correct, I did have help. It was quite fortunate you know. Greyjia made it all possible, he began opening the portal to the demon realm here, so that he could get revenge on you two."

"What!" Christine yelled, "Impossible, not even my father knew how to open the door to the demon realm, he experimented with it his entire life and never succeeded."

"Wrong, he found the key to the door and brought it here, bringing Dabra forth from the demon plane."

"Dabra? Dabra's here?" I asked.

"Yes, he is the one broke me free from Hell, but enough talk, we have a lot of work to get done."

"How many times do I have to tell you," I crouched down, Christine mimicked me, "I won't work with you."

He sneered, "You will, do you really think it was an accident that you and Christine both ended up in the Arena?" He snapped his fingers. Alucard suddenly transported to the middle of the room.

"Mom! Dad!" he yelled in surprise.

I wondered what Daimao was up to, "Get over here," I ordered, worried that he would try to use Alucard against me.

Daimao chuckled, "You can't protect him."

Alucard swerved around, "You again!"

"Like hell I can't protect him," I yelled, Christine and I both went to Alucard's side.

Daimao laughed, that cold, eerie laugh that still sent a shiver down my spine. "I implanted an energy device deep into all three of your children, one that I alone control,once I activate it, it won't turn off until the person it's in is dead," he raised his hand. It glowed a reddish black. Alucard suddenly cried out in pain and fell to his knees.

"NO!" I bellowed and looked back in horror at my eldest child.

Christine caught him and frantically tried healing him, but there was nothing she could do. The boys muscle all tensed, the veins raising under his skin. He gritted his teeth, trying not to scream until he couldn't bare I anymore.

"STOP IT DAIMAO!!" I raged, my voice taking a hostility it hadn't known even when I fought Goku back in the Strongest Under the Heavens when I hated him.

It was too late though. Alucard's shriek pierced my ears, which still rung as he collapsed in Christine's arms –dead.

I locked eyes with Daimao, my _chi_ sparking, if I hadn't been transformed already I mostly certainly would have at that moment. My fists clenched so tightly I felt my nails draw blood from my palm, "Damn you," I hissed between my gritted teeth.

Daimao shifted in excitement, "Good, I know that look, hate. Directed at the wrong side, but it's a start. You have two children left, do as I say, and I'll let them live, defy me, and another one dies in agony as this one just did. Oh, and just so you know, I have one of the Dragonballs here in the volcano, which I plan to keep locked up until my minion reaches the Lookout and kills that pathetic guardian of yours, Dende I believe his name is, so don't think you can just bring them back, and remember, a soul killed by a demon does not go to the afterlife, it wanders the universe forever. If that's what you want your children's fates to be, by all means, continue to defy me. But if it's not, then disable and knock out your dear wife and place her in the prison below."

It became deathly quiet after he spoke. Christine had gone into a state of mental shock, she wasn't crying, or angry, in fact she was hardly even breathing. I turned fully around to face her and got into a serious battle stance, "I'm sorry."

My words seemed to wake her up, she placed Alucard's body off to the side then transformed into her second state. She didn't say a word. Christine's eyes were on me, but her mind was on Daimao.

_(insert evil smiley)_

_Elieare_


	18. Chapter 18: The Tables Turn

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own DBZ.**

_Jewel: November 1996-October 2, 2009 best dog I ever had, I practically grew up with her. I'm going to miss her spunky attitude, her excited greetings and morning wake-ups, and yes, I'm even going to miss her "grooming" my hands and shedding fur like crazy._

**Chapter 18: The Tables Turn**

"Before you begin," Daimao spoke, "allow me access into your mind, so that I know you are truly not trying to rebel against me."

I felt my face twitch in annoyance, but I begrudgingly let him into my mind.

"_Good, we must redecorate the scenery in here, but that is for another time. Follow your orders."_

I was about to engage Christine, when she surprised me by taking the initiative. In every battle I had seen her fight, she had let her opponent start it. Of course, in every other battle I had seen her in, she had not just lost a child. A sudden wave of anger and sadness balled up in my stomach, it almost felt like that time I had swallowed the _Mafuba _with Kami trapped inside it, only, Goku couldn't dislodge it this time.

I felt a mental slap, "_Focus, Ma Junior," _my sire order.

I growled, and analyzed Christine's strike, easily dodging and retaliating. She anticipated my attack and graceful pushed it away, using my own strength and momentum to throw me off balance and over stretch my arm, leaving my abdomen wide open. I instinctively curled my leg to my chest, a moment later Christine's kick slammed into it. I took advantage of her now being off balance and pushed forward, aiming to elbow her in the face. She had not expected the move, but she adapted quickly. She did not resist my push, but allowed it to knock her over, thus dodging my elbow, she then twisted her body in a way even some of the most skilled acrobats couldn't, and swept my legs out from under me. This was an attack I recognized, she would follow through with a knee slam that was backed with the entire force of her body. I couldn't dodge it in time, she was a little faster than me, but I could counter.

My use of _chi _had always come easily to me, a trait of a Namek no doubt, so I had always been able to form a blast quicker then most of my opponents. This time was no exception. The exploding blast seared my chest slightly due to the close proximity, but it did more damage to Christine. I saw her fly back towards the wall. I use a kick-up to get to my feet and followed my blast with a kick. Christine recovered unexpectedly, and grabbed my leg, again using it's force against me to gain access to my abdomen. I saw her attack, and knew what she planned to do, but I couldn't do anything about it, I wouldn't be fast enough. I tried anyways to grab or block her hand, which was formed in a beak-like fist, but I was unsuccessful. Christine nailed a pressure point that she had discovered during one of our sparring sessions; it was one Greyjia had taken advantage of too. My body froze, paralyzed temporarily, every muscle in my body too rigid to move.

Daimao laughed in my head, "_she knows you well, and is an excellent fighter. After your body has recovered from this, use more deadly force, she might defeat you if you drag this battle out."_

I didn't reply back, I didn't know what to say to that. Deep down, I guess I was hoping to drag it out so that Christine could beat me. It was foolish of me to hope that Daimao would allow that though. I was about to resign to this fact when Christine did something that completely took away my advantage. She grabbed my left hand, the one with the Heart's Twined, and absorbed the symbol from me. It was a technique we could do that we would use when only one of us could fight, that way we would have the strength of both of us in one. We didn't do it often though because it left the other one severely weakened and open for attack, this time, that wasn't a disadvantage for her at all.

The second I could control my body again I backed up, putting as much distance as I could in between her and me.

"You don't stand a chance now Daimao," Christine said and looked up at him, "your might isn't strong enough to face the combined strength of me and my husband.

"_Transform you fool!" _Daimao hissed in my mind.

"_I can't, the Heart's Twined gives me that power, not to mention she took most of my energy when she took the symbol."_

"_Of course you can transform still, I analyzed what causes it, the Heart's Twined only serves as a catalyst due to the heritage of both me and Greyjia, in order to reach the state without Greyjia you just need to remember what it feels like when you're transformed and push harder in order to reach it."_

"_What? How?" _It horrified me to think that he could teach me to do this and take away Christine's advantage, but at the same time, it intrigued me.

"_Your muscles, you chi, your mind all remember how to enter the state, you just have to manipulate them on your own to do it, trick them into thinking you still have the Heart's Twined, it's a permanent ability you gained, if you master it, you can use it even when the Heart's Twined is broken."_

"Last chance Daimao," Christine said and charged up to her second state, "release my husband and children and retreat, or I _will_ send you back to Hell."

I processed what Daimao had said to me and found he was right. The state was trapped within the memories of my body; all I needed to do was change my _chi_ so that it was more demonic based like when I had the Heart's Twined. Since I had rejected my heritage I disregarded my demonic _chi_ completely and focused only on the remaining that I had because I'm a Namekian, but after my bond with Christine, who also has demon _chi_ coursing through her, I used about fifty-fifty of both. All I had to do now was release my demonic _chi_; it had been so long since I had tried to manipulate it on my own though.

"I don't have enough time, Christine will attack before I can figure this out and do it."

"_She won't attack you, she can't bare to attack you, and she knows the only way to me is through you."_

"_You underestimate her Daimao."_

"_Ha, you put too much faith in her. Do as you're told, she'll give you the time."_

"Well, what is your answer Daimao?" Christine barked impatiently.

Daimao laughed, "You're bluffing."

I had managed to mix my _chi_ appropriately, but the Heart's Twined had taken too much, I didn't have enough to reach the state, "_Daimao, I don't-"_

"_Have enough energy, I know, I heard you."_

I bristled; I had forgotten he was in my head. It made me feel uneasy again.

I felt another mental slap, "_You put too much value in your privacy, I will send you the energy you need." _

Before he could though Christine suddenly attacked with a massive energy-infused charge, I had only seconds to realize it was the one she called "Living Blade," because she used her energy to surround her body in a way that made her attacks cut through her opponent. I'd never seen it fail, and with the difference in _chi_ and the normal difference in our speed I didn't stand a chance to get out of the way. Pain was the last thing I registered before I lost consciousness.

_Can Piccolo survive this? Or is he going to join his eldest son? Find out in the next chapter, mwahahaha._

_Elieare_


	19. Chapter 19: A Brief Breather

**Disclaimer: Guess what? I haven't gained the copyrights to DBZ, still all owned by Toriyama and Funimation.**

_I haven't received a review since Chapter11 o.O But according to the stats people are still reading the story so I guess I'll keep writing it ^_^_

**Chapter 19 : A Brief Breather**

My vision was blurry when I opened my eyes. I couldn't focus them either. Through the distortion I could faintly make out the yellow clouds and buildings of the check-in station.

"_So I'm dead,_" I thought. I had…mixed feelings about this realization. On one hand I could comfort Alucard until we were brought back, _if_ we were brought back. On the other hand I didn't feel very comfortable leaving Christine, especially since she killed me after she had just lost Alucard.

The images around me were finally starting to slowly come into focus, a phenomenon I hadn't encountered before when I died. I felt a tug inside, like someone was trying to pull me away from the check-in station. It was most likely Christine trying to save me. It wouldn't work though, I was already dead; she probably knew this too and was just being stubborn. I ignored her tug. I could almost see everything with crystal clarity when I felt a much more violent tug, one that almost made me vomit (which for me is saying a lot). I fell to my knees; the check-in station and the clouds whirled about me until I had to close my eyes.

I bolted upright and gasped, I was freezing. My lungs didn't want to take in air, my heart palpitated painfully, my body felt weak, almost numb. I coughed blood as I panted, desperately trying to suck in air. I shivered uncontrollably and tensed as my heart returned to a normal speed and rhythm.

"Wow! You did it Christine! I didn't think he would make it!" I still couldn't see, my eyes were open but all I could see was black. My ears told me it was Gohan.

"He's still looks injured pretty bad, but he's certainly alive," Kuririn said.

I also heard a snort from a voice that was undoubtedly Vegeta.

My vision suddenly returned, as if a light switch had been flicked. Christine was leaning over me; she was on her knees at my side. Gohan and Kuririn were fairly close by, each beaming, and Vegeta was leaning against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest. My brain was slow in trying to process all that happened, and I had absolutely no idea when the others got here. How long had I been out? I went back to my last memory: Christine attacking me. I looked down at my chest and saw two deep gashes that formed and "x" from collar bone almost done to my hips. The wounds were deep, but I knew that they were all the way out my back before Christine had healed me as much as she could.

Christine suddenly whomped me on one of the gashes, "Don't ever do that again!"

"Uhn-I didn't have a choice! Daimao would have-"

"Not that!" she started mixing human and her native tongue as usual, "you _gave up_! I was _trying to heal _you and you _gave up_!"

"I only gave up because I didn't think you could do anything-"

Christine hit me again, now she was speaking completely in her language, "That's no better! You need to put more faith in me!"

"I though I was dead!" I said exasperated, "I was staring at the check-in station, I've never seen that before unless I already died!"

She huffed, opened her mouth and then spoke softly in human again, "I wasn't going to lose you too, it was bad enough that I couldn't save…" she suddenly trailed off and collapsed from exhaustion.

Christine was falling right on top of me, and I fully intended to catch her. My body proved too weak to do even that though, and her weight only succeeded in causing me to fall onto my back, her unconscious body pressing me down. I tried to push her off or move, but I couldn't. It was very strange, it was almost like my arms and legs didn't exist at all. Gohan walked over and pulled Christine off, laying her gently to my side. Then he helped me into a sitting position.

"You're still bleeding pretty bad," he muttered and took off the green cloth that was his overcoat of his Great Saiyaman costume and tightly around my wound. I grunted and growled my discontent with his action, but I lacked the strength to do anymore than that.

"Well, at least it matches your skin," Kuririn joked.

I glared at him, "How did you guys get here anyways?"

Gohan motioned with his head to a giant hole in the floor that hadn't been there before, "The tunnels we used led to lower floors, while fighting, Vegeta opened a whole into the room Kuririn was and then onto the floor I was stuck on. After that we decided to just make our way up and we ended up here. When we came in Christine was intently trying to heal you. It took her a while, and I didn't think she could pull it off, but she did. Oh! And look what we found-"

Kuririn grinned and took out something from his shirt, "A Dragon Ball! I was thrown into this crate so hard I broke it and this came flying out of it."

The Dragon Ball jump-started my memory, "We need to contact someone on the outside quick! Daimao sent someone to kill Dende so the Dragon Balls would become inert and he could use my children's lives to control me!"

"Is that how Alucard…" Gohan looked over to my eldest boy's body.

I nodded, "I can't bring him back if the Dragon Balls are no good."

Kuririn nodded, "Then we should get back to going higher up and trying to get out of here."

"There's a problem," I said. Honestly, I had just realized it myself. The reason why I was so weak and my body felt so strange was because my _chi _was bound, as if I didn't know how to use _chi_. No, that wasn't it, it was more like my _chi _didn't belong to me so it wouldn't flow through my body. As for my muscles, it seemed that the blood wasn't circulating well, it was slowly correcting itself though.

"Just one?" Kuririn grinned.

I snorted, "Of course not, but what I mean is I can't access my _chi_ which means I can't fly, Christine's unconscious, and Alucard's-" I found it almost impossible to say the next word, but not wanting to show my emotion, I grimaced like it was my wound that had paused me and continued, "dead. Normally I would just take Christine and Alucard and fly to the Lookout myself, but I can't, so someone else has to go. I know Vegeta won't do it-"

"I'll do it," Kuririn offered, "whatever was sent to kill Dende probably won't be that strong, so I can take care of it, and I have a feeling that whatever's at the top of this volcano is way over my head."

I nodded.

"Are you sure Kuririn?" Gohan asked.

"Yeah, at least I can still be useful," he picked up Alucard, placed him on top of Christine and lifted them both up.

I forced myself to stand, Gohan tried to help me but I refused it. My blood was pumping the way it normally did now, and I felt quite a bit stronger, although the lack of _chi _still dragged me down. I must have been extremely close to dying for systems in my body to shut down the way they did, "Let's get going," I asserted. Everyone nodded. Vegeta blasted a hole into the ceiling and we ascended (much to my contempt, Gohan flew me up). We entered into a circular hallway, a gaping hole led to the outside where the hallway sloped up. Kuririn departed with an exchange of good lucks, and the remaining three of us continued upwards.

_Next chappie's gonna be a big fight, and hopefully the end to this particular plot arc, which means I'll focus on Christine's and Piccy's relationship more._

_Elieare_


	20. Chapter 20: Victory

**Disclaimer: Just like the other 19 chapters, I do not own the rights to Akira Toriyama's characters.**

_Holy cow, this is chapter 20! I did not expect this to become such a long story. I hope it's not getting boring or predictable _.

**Chapter 20: Victory**

The path forked at the top, each path turning so the end wasn't in sight.

"Hm, which way should we go?" Gohan put one hand under his chin.

"Oh who cares, we'll go down one, and if it doesn't work out, we'll go down the other," Vegeta snapped.

"I guess we don't really have another choice," Gohan resigned.

"Wait!" I said as my ears picked up a noise. I closed my eyes to focus on the sound better.

"What it is Piccolo?" Gohan asked.

I shushed him and listened a little longer, "It's Goku, he's fighting someone down this path," I pointed to the right.

"Alright, I'm sure glad you can hear so much better than most Piccolo," Gohan grinned, "it really comes in handy in this weird distortion field."

I nodded, "Yeah, I'm going to take this path," I motioned to the left, "I couldn't hear the twins, and since you guys checked everywhere else, they're probably down this way."

"You sure you'll be okay by yourself," he looked at the thin line of purple seeping through the garment he'd wrapped me with.

"Of course I'll be fine, the fighting is in the opposite direction."

Gohan nodded, and the three of us split.

The hall kept turning sharply until finally I came across an ornate black door. It muffled the sound from the other side but I could faintly pick up Selena yelling, "You jerk!"

A knot suddenly twisted in my stomach, a sensation I had never experienced this way before I had children. It wasn't one I cherished either. I threw open the doors and charged in. I was on a ledge that overlooked a dark room. The only source of light was the _chi _from Selena and a tall red warrior (Dabra something told me) and an eerie red glow given of by a massive marking on the wall. My entire being was telling me to get away, instincts- or perhaps knowledge from my sire- told me it was a portal to the demon plane.

In that rouge light I saw Selena attack the giant demon, Ryu's unconscious form nearby here take-off point. Dabra batted her away and prepared an attack that would undoubtedly kill her. Panic struck me, from my position there was no way I could reach her without use of my _chi_. In my desperation, I found access to some, but it wasn't mine. It was _chi_ that was flowing through me from the portal. I didn't have time to contemplate why or any possible effects for it though, just time to use it. I teleported in front of Selena and unleashed a fierce blast. It burned when I used it, as if the chi I was controlling was the hottest flames of Hell itself. It was powerful too, cutting through Dabra's attack as if it wasn't even there and searing the "King of the Demon Plane," his injured body slamming and becoming lodged in the wall the portal was written on. All of the foreign _chi _that had been flowing through me left, the portal sucking it in. Dabra had been neutralized, but for some reason, the portal seemed to remain active, there was a change though. It's glowed brighter, casting long shadows across the room.

"Selena, take your brother and get out of here. Follow the hall until it forks, then take the path that descends and get out of here."

"But I want to fight-"

"No, you have to take care of your brother, and you have to get somewhere safe."

"But Dad-"

"I said no Selena! Get out of here right now!" An alarm bell was ringing in my head. Something was coming out of that portal, something even more terrifying then anything I had experienced in my sire's memories. I had no idea what; I just knew that it was powerful and evil.

Selena was surprised with the harshness of my tone, but I could tell from her trembling that she had picked up the same feeling I had. She grabbed her brother; leaving me with this, "You better kick its butt daddy!" then flew off.

I grinned, a mixture of fear and humor in it, "We'll see if I can."

A brief burst of wind, much like the microbursts that would occasionally blow through the desert, flared from the portal, the demonic presence getting closer. Dabra stirred a little, groaning incoherently. Then…something reached out and grabbed him. It was a tangle of darkness, more like black goo than anything else, but I could swear there were faces swirling on its surface. Dabra screamed as it dragged him into the portal, which was now just a large black hole, "No! NO! YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME!! I AM YOUR MASTER, NO, NO, NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

There was a ghostly silence after his disappearance, and then another tendril of darkness shot out from the portal, aiming straight for me. I jumped back to dodge but was too slow. It snagged my left leg and dragged pulled me with surprising force. I only dimly noted the ceiling as my back slammed into the floor. I desperately tried to grab something, anything that would prevent me from being pulled in. I only scraped my fingers to the bone on the ground, leaving eight lines of purple in their wake. A shimmer caught my eye. A sword was thrusted into the ground. I was barely able to reach it. It stopped me only for a moment, pulling that arm out of its socket. Then the sword came loose, although still in my hand. I grabbed the sword with the other hand and slashed at the tendril, but it had no effect. I was almost at the portal now. Without really thinking I severed my left leg right above the knee.

I skidded to a halt, the rest of my leg disappearing into the portal with the dark arm. I scrambled to my feet and leapt as best as I could with one leg. I almost reached the ledge, grabbing it with my good arm-sword still in hand- and swinging myself the rest of the way. I hopped down the hall stopping only briefly to pop my other arm back into place and haphazardly tying off my leg stump. I hadn't hobbled that far away when an explosion rocked the hall and caused it to collapse to the giant room of the arena. In the confusion and daze that followed I had lost the sword amongst the rubble. While trying to find it again, the creature jumped down from the room above. Its body shape was that of a giant lizard's, but it had tufts of black fur across its body. Any skin that showed revealed the gooey swirling darkness similar to what grabbed me. In fact, what I had mistaken of, as a tendril dragging me was its long tail. A gem was mounted on its forehead, as crimson as its eyes were. It roared, the most ungodly sound I had ever heard. It was both low and high at the same time, a bloodcurdling harshness too it that made my heart skip a beat. I had to place my hands to my ears because of the pain it caused me. The monster took advantage of my lowered guard and again ensnared me with its tail, this time around my waist. It threw me into the air and opened it mouth as wide as it could.

I cursed myself as I spotted the sword, thinking, "_Sure, now I find it_."

There wasn't much I could do now. I couldn't fly without _chi_ and there wasn't any free floating in the area for me to take advantage of this time. I couldn't even stretch my arms to grab the sword with my _chi _levels so low. So I did the only thing I could, brought in my extremities to make myself as small as possible and avoid its teeth. I was successful with that and instantly latched onto its tongue with my clawed hands. It shrieked – which made me cringe- and shook its head violently, trying to loosen my grip. When that didn't work, it opened its mouth slightly, not enough for me to get out though. Then it slid its tongue out, moving me to the front of its teeth. I placed my foot on the back of the tooth to prevent it from putting me into a position that it could chomp done on me. It stuck out its tongue a little more and then stopped. I tried to kick the tooth out and escape that way, but it didn't work. I fully intended on taking advantage when it opened its mouth a little wider, but it suddenly drew its tongue back in, the tip curled, trapping me and dragging me into its throat.

I refused to be eaten. Period. I grabbed the uvula and squeezed the crap out of it to make it gag. It started gagging, but the blasted beast kept its mouth close. So I squeezed harder and used my weight to swing side to side. That worked, but not before a rather…unfortunate event preceded it. I was promptly ejected from its mouth in a pool of its vomit. I ignored how putrid it and I now smelled and scuttled over to the sword. I had never liked using weapons, I preferred hand-to-hand combat, but I was making an exception in this case. The demon beast swooped in on me; its head low and mouth open to sweep me back into its mouth. It was really Hell-bent on eating me -pun not intended. I couldn't move out of the way so I improvised again. I place one foot over its teeth on the bottom of its mouth it was securely planted below its tongue. Then I held the roof of its mouth with my arms, jamming the sword upwards. It shrieked again and bite down harder, forcing me to let go of the sword, leaving it impaled through the top or its mouth, and use both my arms to keep its mouth open. Its jaw was extremely powerful, my leg shaking under its pressure. I gritted my teeth and grunted with the strain. Its tongue wrapped around my waist and it started pulling, causing pain in my spine as it threatened to snap. I yelled with effort desperately trying to not give up. My strength was waning, the muscles in my arm feeling more like jelly. I couldn't hold it much longer.

"NO! FIND A SNACK SOMEWHERE ELSE!" I bellowed, more for myself then the monster. With the last push of my strength I grabbed the sword again and dragged it downwards, making a large slash. The pain caused it to loosen its grip. I cut its tongue and jumped out, swinging onto its nose and stabbing the red gem. It was a gamble, but the gem seemed important. The creature let out another inhuman nose and the gem glowed.

"Shit!" I yelled and jumped up in an attempt to avoid what would happen next. The creature exploded in a mixture of violent _chi _arcs and the flesh that made it. One of the bands of _chi_ struck me. My body went rigid as if a shock of electricity had surged through me. I crashed to the floor, twitching in pain for a good minute before I gasped for air and could relaxed. I let myself just lay there for a moment to catch my breath, then gingerly sat up. The sword had miraculously survived all of that. It was a demonic sword, most likely Dabra's, so I suppose it made sense it was so sturdy. I used it more as a cane to stand up and climb up the rubble to the whole Vegeta had earlier made.

I had to take another break at the top of the hall before standing up again and heading for the exit, dragging myself across the wall. I was exhausted, decently injured, and had lost a lot of blood. My _chi _still refused to behave too, which didn't make things any easier. I finally reached my destination. I heard Gohan from up ahead, "Whoa! Gee, I wonder what blew this hole!" a pause and then, "I hope Piccolo get caught in it."

"Of course I did kid," I called.

"Piccolo?"

There was a brief sound of running and then Gohan appeared, followed by Goku and Vegeta. They were all very battle-worn, injured and exhausted, but alive.

"What happened!"

All of them crinkled their nose; Goku put a hand to his nose, "Whoo! You reek Piccolo!"

I gave him my death glare, "Thank you Son, I hadn't noticed."

"Why do you smell like vomit Namek!" Vegeta demanded, also covering his nose as well.

"It's a long story," I said flatly.

Suddenly, the entire place started shaking apart.

"Whoa! That can't be good!" Gohan yelled.

"We should get out of here!" Goku replied.

Gohan grabbed me and we all flew off. The entire volcano suddenly exploded behind us. Goku grabbed teleported us out of the blast radius and to the Lookout. Everyone was there, even Selena. I didn't see Ryu, Dende, or Christine, but now that we weren't in the distortion field I could sense _chi _and I felt them inside the palace, unconscious or sleeping.

"Daddy!" Selena yelled and ran up to me, suppressing her urge to hug me when she saw my injuries. Her face suddenly soured, "Ewww, you smell bad!"

Everyone laughed. I sighed.

_Man, poor Piccy had a really bad day (as if I didn't have any control over that). Hope you enjoyed this long chapter, yay! ^_^_

_Elieare_


	21. Chapter 21: Restoration

**Disclaimer: Is it really necessary to put disclaimer every single chapter? I mean, do you really think I'm going to still write here if I magically gain the rights to DBZ?**

_Thanksgiving has come and gone, meaning I have this week (dead week), then finals and my first semester of college is over, wow._

**Chapter 21: Restoration**

By the end of the day I had cleaned myself up and Dende had finally regained consciousness. He healed the Saiyans and then came to me, since I was meditating away from everyone else. I still hadn't gained access to my chi, so I was sitting cross-legged(as best as I could with only one leg) on the ground.

"Hey Piccolo, I heard you had gotten pretty beaten up, but I didn't expect you to be this bad," he greeted.

"It's not as bad as it seems," I grunted, "although it would be a lot better if I could access my chi."

"You can't use your chi? Why? No one else is having that problem."

"I was hoping you could tell me why, and fix it," I replied.

"Hmm, well I'll try my best."

It took him a lot longer to heal me then usual, for a minute or so it didn't seem like he was able to heal me at all, and then finally, I felt a rush of chi flow through me. After that, all of the wounds I had received from the fights disappeared, but he didn't stop. I felt an odd sensation in my chest, it had been hurting for quite sometime, but I had attributed it to the wound Christine had given me. That wound was healed, but there was still pain, and then that disappeared too and Dende stopped, panting from exertion and his brow furrowed in thought, mumbling, "So I did see correctly."

"What do you mean, and why did healing take so long?"

"Well, while I was unconscious, I could still see everything that was going on, I just couldn't do anything about it. When Christine attacked you to get to Daimao, I thought you had died, but then Christine healed you for the most part, so I figured I had just been mistaken."

"Correct," I nodded.

"Well, after healing you I think I was right, you did die."

"What? Impossible."

He shook his head, "Christine revived you, but she wasn't able to start up all your major systems correctly. There was also a lot of damage, but not damage as if it had been injured, damage you only receive when it shuts down for a while."

"Perhaps I was just in the process of dying."

"No, the damage was spread throughout your entire body, including your brain, which was what caused you to feel like your chi was blocked, the portion of your brain that allowed you to control your chi was damaged."

This was a lot for me to take in, I knew Christine had extremely powerful healing abilities now, but I didn't think she could actually resurrect someone. Wouldn't she have revived Alucard then? I pushed this train of thought aside; it would be something I discussed with Christine later, "were you able to fix it all?"

"Well, I think so, the brain is hard to tell, and you'll probably have heart problems later, but for the most part, you're in perfect health now."

"Good, thank you Dende," I focused my chi and regenerated my leg, then materialized a replacement outfit for myself, "how's Christine?"

"Fine, still asleep though, I healed her wounds, so she just needs more rest."

"Good," I walked off to the front. The twins ran up and greeted me, "Dad, dad!" Selena started, and Ryu continued, "they said that they're almost ready to bring Alucard back!"

"Already?"

"Yeah," Selena spoke again, "everyone flew out in a different direction and then Goku's bringing them all back by teleporting," Ryu finished again, "Now there's only one left, and they should be back at any moment!"

As if that was a cue Goku and Gohan appeared holding the last Dragonball.

"Hey Piccolo, you're up!" Goku grinned.

"Indeed," I nodded, "let's summon Shenlong so Alucard will be alive when Christine wakes up."

They nodded and placed the Dragonballs in a circle, "How 'bout you raise Shenlong, Piccolo," Gohan suggested.

"Fine, ARISE SHENLONG!"

~/*\~

I made sure Alucard was the first thing Christine saw when she woke up the next day. I let them 'reunite' and the twins greet her then I sent them outside so I could talk with Christine alone.

"So how are you," I asked, noting she still seemed pale.

She sighed, "It's been a long day."

"You mean yesterday was a long day."

"What? I slept an entire day?!" A rebellious strand of hair fell onto her face, causing her to sweep it behind her ear.

I nodded and couldn't help but enjoy the way the light was falling on her face from the slightly open door as it made her soft wavy hair almost glow. I mentally chided myself for my inappropriate timing, I had us alone for a reason, and it wasn't _that_. I cleared my throat, "Why did you waste the energy to resurrect me?"

"Resurrect? That's a little dramatic don't you think?" I noted she looked away, "I just healed you so you wouldn't die."

"No, I was dead, Dende confirmed it."

"Impossible," she shook her head. But still didn't look at me, "if I could revive people I would have done so for Alucard."

She was lying, and I wasn't sure why, deep down, she knew I didn't believe her either. I gently probed her feelings, catching a glimpse of sadness before she closed up on me.

"Christine…" I gently turned her head so we could lock eyes, onyxes and emeralds, neither one willing to back down. She pushed my hand away and looked down at the floor, the hair again fell on her face. I brushed it away this time, "What is it Christine?"

She sighed, "I just couldn't bare to lose you too, I had tried to use it on Alucard, but it didn't work, all I was able to do was to prevent his soul from wandering the earth the way a soul taken by a demon should."

This made sense to me, although I couldn't understand why she was sad. I could tell she wouldn't give that up though, and honestly, I wasn't in the frame of mind to try and coax it out of her, so I kissed her on the forehead, "We should go outside, the kids are probably anxious to see us again."

She smiled, "As am I, especially Alucard."

We all went to the Brief's establishment that night, celebrating the victory and reunion. Christine and I watched the kids play together and laughed as we watched shy Gohan with Videl, the two obviously attracted to each other. As the night came and the party wound down Selena crawled into my lap, Ryu in Christine's lap and Alucard squeezed in between us. The rest of the warriors sat in a circle nearby, Vegeta leaning on a nearby tree. We talked for awhile, mostly answering questions about how Christine and I got together. Then little Selena spoke up, "I'm tired."

"Then go to sleep little one," I replied softly.

"But I can't , Mom hasn't sung the lullaby yet," she said and yawned.

Christine smiled, "I suppose I'll have to fix that."

She cleared her throat and started her song, her voice clear and sweet, like frosted crystal that rang perfectly in tune. Translated her song was about the joy and wonder of children, the last phrase a promise to protect them for as long as they lived. When it was done, all three of our children, and Goten Trunks were sound asleep. Everyone else wasn't looking too far behind them. Christine rested her head on my chest, and I rested my cheek in her soft hair. I was puzzled by tears that fell from Christine's face onto my chest, but I dared not disturb the peace that thickened the atmosphere.

_Okay, I gotta get back to studying…_

_Elieare_


	22. Chapter 22: Settling Down

**Disclaimer: Guess what? I'm still Copyright-less.**

_I've got nothing, except I want to wrap this story up soon._

_Oops, I've had this chapter done since before Christmas, but I forgot to upload it, my bad._

**Chapter 22: Settling Down…**

We had been staying at Capsule Corp. the last couple days. Christine wanted to build a house for us, but we hadn't decided where to put it yet. She liked my favorite waterfall, but the area around it was pretty desolate and she wanted it to be a little livelier; she also liked a waterfall she found in the mountains near the Son residence, but the weather could get a little harsher then she was hoping. She had tried to con me into choosing, but I dodged the decision, knowing that in the end, she would choose anyways. I waited for Christine out in the room where we had put a table while she was getting ready in the bedroom. The kids were out playing in the garden with Trunks so Christine and I had decided to look at the two possible locations today and make our final decision. Christine finally came out and leaned on the door frame, but just stared at me.

"Are you ready?" I asked.

"I've changed my mind," she smiled, "I don't need to look at the locations again, my decision's already made."

"Oh? So where will it be?"

"Well, as nice and familiar as the wasteland waterfall is, it's still a wasteland, so let's build the house in the mountains by the Son residence."

I nodded, "Good, should we start planning today instead?"

"Weeeeell," she sauntered over and sat down on my lap, wrapping her arms around my neck, "I was thinking we should celebrate first. Afterall," she kissed me, "I did promise you more than a kiss if you survived the Daimao ordeal."

Our kiss continued and became more passionate, an excitement starting to buzz through my body, originating from my loins and working its way up, a wave of heat following it. Then we began to undress each other. I removed her overcoat; she removed my jacket and shirt. I was about to take off her shirt as she worked on my belt when Gohan suddenly burst into the room, "Picco-whoa!" He exclaimed and then left, slamming the door behind him.

Christine and I froze, and then pulled away from each other, our excitement replaced with embarrassment, our faces flushing. She bit her bottom lip a little, "I know I locked that door."

I sneered, "There isn't a lock on this planet that can stop an excited half-Saiyan teenager." An odd sensation had settled over me, honestly, I was mortified at what had just happened, but for some reason I remained calm.

Christine sighed, "I suppose. He did effectively kill the mood though," she stood up.

I inwardly growled, I had liked the direction we were going, and being…interrupted hadn't changed that in my mind, "we can always revive it," I grabbed her hand lightly.

She gave me her "like Hell we can" look, "Perhaps later, you should go see what Gohan wants first," she picked up her overcoat and my jacket and walked into our bedroom, "I'm going to start drawing up plans for our house."

I sighed and put my shirt back on while I walked over to the door and went outside, noting the lock was now in little metal pieces scattered across the floor. I was still tucking in my shirt when Gohan, whose face was beet red, started babbling, "Piccolo, I'm sorry, I just- well I didn't think you guys would be- I- I- I-"

I held up my hand, "Let's just pretend that never happened, but I swear kid, you better have a damn good reason for barging in."

He nodded furiously, "We're still in danger, that volcano were at had something in it."

"Hold on," I said, then contacted Christine telepathically, "_Christine, you'll want to hear this too._" She joined us a few moments later.

"Continue Gohan."

"Well, my dad contacted me through King Kai, apparently that volcano we were at houses an entrance to the demon plane; it had been sealed off so that only temporary portals could be created, but after our fight, it's slowly becoming active again."

"How?" Christine asked, "in order for the first seal to be broken, a powerful demon must manipulate the gate's chi and make a sacrifice, then it has to be watched and stabilized by a dark mage with very advanced skills. Even if the first seal had been lifted, there isn't a mage capable of that feat on Earth."

"Yes there is, Dad fought him while Vegeta and I took on two other demons. Vegeta and I destroyed our opponents, but Dad's got away using magic."

"Who?" I asked.

"Um, Beelzebub, the one that met you at the entrance Christine."

"THAT was Beelzebub?! I had heard he'd been disfigured but…this is bad. Who could have broken the first seal?"

"I think I did," I said and tried to hide the subsequent blush that followed.

"What? Why?" Christine's emerald eyes pierced mine, their normal softness replaced with fire.

"Dabra was going to kill Selena, my own chi had been bound and there was some free floating chi in the area, so I used it. That must have been the gate's chi, because a portal appeared and a giant demon dragged Dabra into it. It tried to take me too, but I got away and then destroyed it when it followed me."

"Wait, did this giant demon have a red jewel on its forehead?" Christine asked, urgency giving her voice a razor-sharp edge.

"Yes."

"Oh no, that was the gate keeper, if he was destroyed- we must go back, right now, or there will be no way to prevent the demon plane from engulfing this planet."

"Wow, Christine you know a lot about the demon plane," Gohan commented as we made for the exit.

"Yes, my father was obsessed with trying to open it, he had hoped to use me as the key to the portal."

"The key? You mean the mage that needs to stabilize it?" Gohan said.

"Yes, but I didn't have any potential as a mage; that is the past. Now we must interrupt Beelzebub before he completes the corridor that connects the gate in this plane to the gate in the demonic plane and reseal the gate."

"How?" Gohan asked.

"Sealing the gate is something I can do really easy, the hard part is interrupting Beelzebub, the only way to do that, is to kill him."

We left the fluorescent lights of Capsule Corp and flew into the sunlit sky. Gohan grinned, "That won't be too hard, he was strong, but he won't stand a chance against the three of us."

"Hopefully, afterall, he will also be stationary, since if he moves at all his focus on the incantation needed to complete the corridor will be broken."

"What's the catch," I said, sensing doubt in Christine.

"Well," Christine sighed, "Beelzebub knows of this vulnerability and will most likely have surrounded himself with a powerful force field, I worry that we will not be able to break it, he is easily the most powerful dark mage in existence."

"Don't worry," Gohan said in a way that reminded me of his father, "we'll manage."

_Next chapter will take awhile with Christmas coming up and all (haha can you tell I forgot to post this when it was done?)  
_

_Elieare_


	23. Chapter 23: Guardian

**Disclaimer: The rights to DBZ was on my Christmas list, but sadly, I didn't get them.**

_I've put everything else on hold until I finish this and I'm getting harassed so I better hurry up. :p_

**Chapter 23: Guardian**

Beelzebub was hunched over in the room I had found Selena in. The portal was pulsating, the waves making my heart pound so hard my head started to hurt. I could see a similar effect on Christine.

"His magic is almost complete, we have a minute before the gates open," Christine said.

"Then we better get going," Gohan said.

"Wait," Christine halted the half-Saiyan's charge and lightly threw a pebble at Beelzebub. The rock was incinerated before it was even fifteen feet from the disfigured demon, "as I thought, the only thing that can contact a force field like that without being destroyed is chi."

"Well then," Gohan got into the Kamehameha stance, "let's blast it."

Christine and I nodded. I placed my left hand on her right, our symbols glowing with the connection, "Heart's Twined…" I shifted into a shallow fighting stance and placed my hand at shoulder height, the palm downwards. Christine slid to my side, one of foot planted on the ground in between my legs, the other in line with my left, her right hand underneath mine, her palm facing upwards. A ball of chi began forming between us, my purple outlined yellow chi mixing with her red outlined blue chi and forming a large green sphere outlined with burgundy. We both said the name of our attack, she in her native tongue and me in mine. In Earthling it translated to "The Bonded Sword's Cannon."

Gohan fired his attack at the same time, the two beams striking the force field near the same spot. Beelzebub's force field seemed to absorb all the energy. I heard Christine curse, "Piccolo, let's up it."

I grunted and brought my right hand into the equation, Christine mirrored me, "Pierce!" Using an a concept similar to my Special Beam Cannon, our new blasts surrounded our first blast, just yellow and blue streaks spiraling around it. Not even that was enough to get through. Gohan steadily brought his chi up until he was an Ascended Saiyan, Christine and I entered our second-level super states as well: still nothing. A shimmer originated from the opposite side of the field and started making its way to our assault point.

Christine yelled, "Stop firing!" We both stopped instantaneously, Gohan a second behind us, the delay from hearing and reacting to Christine's order without understanding them. That last second of his blast was repelled off the new shimmer of the demon's force field and shot as a giant orb of chi right at Christine and me. I stood more in front of her and batted the chi away to the side that had already collapsed from the earlier fight.

"Dammit, now what do we do?!" Gohan yelled, "We can't touch him!"

"There has to be something we can do," I crossed my arms and thought.

Christine's face went pale, "No, it's too late, the corridor is complete."

The gate stopped pulsating, a wave of force rippled from it and knocked us over. Christine cursed and hopped to her feet, "Piccolo, I need the Heart's Twined!"

I didn't ask why, I just held out my left hand to her and she took the symbol. In between all the energy we had already used and the loss of energy from the symbol I felt pretty weak, but it wasn't enough to stop me from batting away Beelzebub when he tried to strike Christine. Beelzebub powered up as Christine charged some sort of magic. I had only seen her use magic when she healed someone, but this was different. I hadn't thought she could do any other sort of magic.

Beelzebub tried again to attack Christine, this time more ferociously. Gohan stepped in and engaged him. I was going to protest but Christine mentally ordered me to blast the portal continuously to prevent any demons from entering until she was ready. I did as she said and mentally asked her, "What are you going to do?"

"Try to reseal the gate. It's a long shot, but I've gotta try. Alright, I'm ready, stop your blast!"

The second I stopped attacking the gate, Christine sent a magical beam at it, it turned black and then slowly started going white. I could tell Christine was under incredible strain, her veins popped up under her skin. She yelled, a mixture of pain and strain with whatever she was doing. Beelzebub frantically tried to stop her now, shooting magically projectiles that Gohan couldn't stop. I jumped and took the blow for her, my back tightened and stung but endured.

For a second, it seemed like Christine would collapse, as if the gate doors would crush her, but she let out another cry and all of a sudden the scenery changed a place that looked a lot like the Room of Spirit and Time. Beelzebub was gone, it was only Gohan, Christine and me.

"What happened?" Gohan asked.

"This is the plane that connects our plane to the demon plane. Thousands of years ago demons rose up against Dabra and sealed the gate, leaving a Guardian who would kill any demon who got too close to the gate in the event that it opened again."

"So that was the thing that killed Dabra and attacked me," I crossed my arms.

Christine nodded, "Yes, and since you killed it, the gate needs a new guardian."

"Correct." A booming voice that felt and sounded like it came from all around us replied.

"Wh-who are you?!" Gohan got in a fighting stance.

"Don't worry," Christine said, "he's the ruler of this plane. He chooses and takes care of the guardian."

I had a sudden suspicion, "Let me guess Christine, you're going to offer to be the new guardian, aren't you?"

"I'm sorry, but I can't ask anyone else too take on such a burden," she said in my head and then said out loud, "Ruler, I am willing, please make me guardian."

I interrupted, "No, make me guardian."

"Piccolo!" Christine turned on me to berate me, but the voice interrupted our argument.

"I appreciate your offers, but I cannot take either of you as guardian."

"What? Why not?"

"The guardian must be one of the plane that sealed the gate. The gate was sealed on the normal plane, and although you have the blood of normals, it is tainted by demon's blood."

"So I'm the only one here who could become guardian?" Gohan asked.

"No," another person spoke from behind us, but this one was familiar.

"Son! What are you doing here?" I asked as I faced the raven hair warrior and long time rival.

Goku grinned, "Hey guys, I was watching from King Kai's new place and he told me this plane was in both the living and dead realm so I decided to drop by."

"Orange clad warrior," the ruler spoke, "I sense power in you greater than any other that has stood before me and a heart filled with courage, would you become the new guardian of this plane?"

"What! N-no," Gohan said.

"Hm? What's wrong son?" Goku asked.

"If you become guardian, you'd be sealed in here, we wouldn't get to see you again!"

Goku put a hand on Gohan's shoulder, "I know, don't worry, it'll give me plenty of time to train."

"B-but-"

"It's okay Gohan, take care of your mother and brother for me okay?"

Gohan started crying, "O-okay."

Much to my surprise, Goku turned to me, "Piccolo, you've gotten so strong now. I'm glad I didn't kill you at the tournament all those years ago, and now, I place earth's protection in your hands okay?"

I was shocked. I knew Goku trusted me now, but- he was pretty much asking me to replace him.

"Don't worry, I know you can do it," he held out his hand.

I shook it, "You better take good care of your new job too…Goku."

"Orange clad warrior, what is your answer?" The voice boomed.

Goku turned, "I'll become guardian."

"Very good. I shall return your friends to their realm."

"I'll see you guys around!" Goku yelled, the classic Son grin the last thing we saw before returning to the volcano.

_Elieare _


	24. Chapter 24: A New Life

**Disclaimer: Knock knock. Who's there? Ding dong. Ding dong who? That's you if you think I own the rights to Dragonball Z.**

_Hi? I'm not going to lie, I'm tired of writing this story, and if I'm tired of writing it, I bet you're tired of reading it. When I look back on it, the story isn't good anyways so this will be the last chapter. In the distant future I may revise and add to it but don't hold your breath. :P oh and the end is inspired by the song Nebel(Mist)by Rammstein, of which I also do not own the rights to._

**Chapter 24: A New Life**

It had been a quiet year since Daimao's defeat. The house was finished and we'd settled into it. The kids loved the area and loved to visit "Uncle" Gohan and Goten. Amazingly enough, Chi-Chi and Christine got along relatively well so we'd often have dinners together. Christine seemed to change gears completely from warrior to mother, but she still got that gleam in her eyes and we'd spar after the kids went to sleep. She also resolved that we all needed education. I didn't really want to, but Christine insisted I take part and learn along with her and the kids. Gohan would come over and tutor us for a couple of hours. Christine learned extremely fast and before long, she would just lead the lessons so Gohan could focus on his studies.

There weren't any enemies to train for or fight. There weren't any monsters to fear and exterminate. Things felt a lot like they had after Cell, with one big exception: I wasn't restless. By all accounts, I should have felt useless again. Afterall, I was a warrior without a battlefield once more. But things were different. Maybe it was because I had been able to hold my own in the last fight. Maybe it was because I had a family now. I'm not sure though, I didn't feel like I was a completely different person. I still loved to battle, I was still the stoic Namek, but at the same time I wasn't. It's very confusing, but… I kinda liked it. I liked who I was. Maybe that was the reason.

"Dad! Hey Dad!" Alucard yelled and brought me out of my meditations.

I opened my eyes and saw him floating nearby, "Mom said it's time to come in."

I nodded and stretched, Alucard stared at the fish jumping in the sunset-bathed pond below, "Why do they do that?"

"Jump?"

"Yeah."

"I think they're catching bugs that are on the surface."

"Oh," he didn't say anything else but studied them a little longer, "I think your right."

"You sound disappointed."

He shrugged, "I guess I was hoping for something more interesting."

I raised an eye ridge, "Oh, like what?"

He huffed, "I don't really know, I guess I just want some excitement again. You had plenty of things to do when you were my age."

I grunted, "I suppose."

He cocked his head, "you make it sound like it was a bad thing to have enemies to fight."

I shook my head, "Not necessarily a bad thing, but I'm not entirely sure it was a good thing either."

He thought for a while again, "well I don't get what you mean, but I guess I can understand it. It was pretty stressful to fight like that."

I grunted, "Anything can be stressful, even something good."

Alucard tilted his head, "Like what?"

"Well, like your birth. It was something both your mom and I looked forward to, but it put us in an stressful situation with your mother's family."

"Oh right, they tried to kill you and me before I was born…"

I nodded, "but after you were born they left us alone and we started our own family."

My son's brow knitted, "Then are there times that stress is bad and good?"

I nodded.

"So is fighting bad or good stress?"

"Sometimes, it's both."

My oldest sighed. "Gee, stress is complicated."

I grinned, "Yes, but right now I don't forsee any stress, good or bad, so let's not worry about it."

His face suddenly lit up, "Oh! Yeah, 'cuz it's dinnertime!"

**~/*\~**

As usual, I checked the mail on my way back from my morning meditations. We hardly ever got anything, but I checked it anyways. Today was one of those rare days we actually did receive something. I read it as I walked in and found Christine mixing pancake batter. She took her eyes off her work for a moment and greeted me, "Good morning Piccolo. What's that," she motioned with her head to the postcard in my hand.

"An invitation from Bulma to one of her Reunions."

"Oh? When is it?"

"Tonight at five."

She was quiet, deep in thought for a moment and then spoke softly, "Do you think Gohan could pick the children up so they could go?"

I raised an eye ridge, "You don't want to go?"

"No, no I do, but, I'd much rather go to that beach on Threve with you. With the children we haven't had time to ourselves in a long time, and this seems like a good opportunity."

She poured three large circles of batter onto a long cooking plate as she spoke, never once looking at me. She was hiding something. She had been hiding something from me for a while now, whenever I asked what was wrong she replied, "nothing," and smiled, but it was a haunted smile, a smile I hadn't seen since we were prisoners. It was irritating.

"Christine, tell me what's wrong, what are you hiding?"

She held a spatula, looking at the light brown batter, waiting for it to cook enough so she could flip it, but she still didn't look at me not even when she whispered, "Nothing."

"Dammit Christine," I grabbed her arm, perhaps a little more roughly then I intended, and spun her around. Tears rimmed her eyes, those mesmerizing emeralds glistening even more with the reflection of the kitchen light off those restrained tears. I didn't know what to say, I didn't know what to make of her expression. When she pulled away from my grip and turned her head I didn't stop her.

"You better call Gohan so he knows to pick up the children."

I stood there my hand still raised, I knew I needed to say something, but I was too frustrated to think of what to say. I crossed my arms and stared at her, her long, wavy blackish blue hair was held loosely in a ponytail so it wouldn't get in the way as she made breakfast. Her eyes were turned away from me, the tattoo under her eye barely visible. Odd, how did she get it turn grey?

"Piccolo," she prompted sternly, breaking my trance, and then she added. Almost beggingly, "please, just trust me."

Suddenly, I felt my anger disappear. Something was wrong, that was obvious, but if I was going to figure out what it was, getting mad wasn't the way to do it. I turned and walked to the other room where the phone was. Gohan was more than happy to take the kids so Christine and I could have some time alone, although he was a little disappointed we wouldn't be there. Then he updated on how he was doing, what antics his father was up to, how his work was and so on. I found it hard to really listen to him, my mind kept wandering to Christine, to that haunted smile, the cryptic request, the tears in her eyes, the tone of her voice when she asked me to trust her. I didn't like it. Finally, I was able to say goodbye to Gohan and hung up.

When I walked back into the kitchen, my family was sitting at the table eating. Alucard was excitingly telling a story, his hands as narrative as his voice. Ryu and Selena listened intently, making remarks of their own here and there and making sure he told the story accurately. Christine had let her hair down; it framed her face, and flowed delicately around her shoulders and down her arms. Her eyes were dazzling, the early morning light from the window making them shine like true emeralds, tears no longer shrouded them. She smiled as our oldest son told his story. Her smiling lips looked delicate, the light colouring of them a nice contrast to her darker blue skin. She looked up at me as I stared at her from where I was leaning against the wall. The children followed her gaze and all pipped, "Good morning daddy!"

Alucard excitedly asked me if they were really going to be picked up by Uncle Gohan and spend the evening at Capsule Corps. The other two stared intently awaiting my reply. I told them Gohan would be here at noon. They cheered and went back to their normal breakfast routine.

Christine and I were the only ones on the beach. Thick grey clouds blotted out the sun. The waves lazily rolled in and out, dampening the sand. Christine was looking at the distant horizon, lost in thoughts I couldn't even begin to guess. I held her in my arms and looked out at the sea as well. She turned in my embrace to face me and opened her mouth as a breeze teased her hair. She kept her mouth open for a while and then closed it, as if the wind had stolen her words. I was going to ask a question, but she put her fingers to my lips and rested her head on my chest. We stayed like that for a while. She looked up at me, her eyes seemed dull, it was probably since there wasn't any direct sunlight. Her tattoo seemed an even lighter grey as if it was bleaching out, I wondered how she was doing that. Her lips were paler than usual, but that was probably just my imagination. She kissed me, her lips were soft, her lips were moist, her lips were cold. She whispered, the words barely audible over the crash of a wave that lapped against our feet, "I'm sorry." Before I could ask for what she went rigid. Her eyes were open, but there was no spark of life in them, her lips were slightly parted, but no breath came between them, her body was pressed against mine, but no heat radiated from it.

"Christine?"

Nothing.

"Christine?!"

Nothing.

I locked onto Dende's energy, he was at the reunion. I teleported there. The children were off playing. I was grateful, I didn't want them to see this.

"Dende, quickly heal her."

"What happened?" A worried voice spoke, I'm not sure whose.

"I don't know."

Dende put her hands over her; a look of distress and sadness crossed his face, "Piccolo, I can't she's dead."

An eruption of voices, of questions, followed, but none of them were coherent to me.

Without realizing it I said, "It's like…she just………stopped."

I was on my knees from where I had put her lifeless body onto the damp, green earth. I couldn't stand, it was like my legs weren't there anymore. I stared at her face and noticed the tattoo was gone completely. Someone picked up her body saying they would take it inside before the children came back. Gohan put a hand onto my shoulder and said something.

The last couple of weeks spun in my head. Her odd behavior, her sad smile, the time she talked to me about how she wondered what the children would grow up to be, the tears in her eyes. Her last kiss, our last kiss and those last words those horrible last words. Her body just freezing, just stopping, as if her seconds of life had just run out. Yurni's words from so long ago floated into my head, "_Even the brightest star can just…stop, cease to exist in a moment. Do you understand?._" Did he know? Did he know this would happen? Did he know what caused it?

I stood and said, "I have to see Yurni."

I locked onto the man's chi and teleported there. I found him praying.

"It has happened hasn't it?" He spoke, "She has… ended."

"You knew?"

"Yes, it is the fate of The Chosen_. "_And The Chosen's brilliance will light up the world until it is no longer, then, it will slowly set until it is gone, and nothing can make it rise again, until a new The Chosen is needed to replace them." Thus, it is written in the Forbidden Text. All of the previous Chosens had died in battle, although one was found dead after a fight without a scratch. We always assumed that it was just from the fighting. When the creature came in to try to sabotage Christine's Trial it entered through a secret hallway that one of our monks had made in secret to hide the Forbidden Text. It's entrance revealed the manuscripts and the monk that had fallen to his greed and wanted to use them to gain power. We found this passage about The Chosen, but Christine had already passed. I showed it to her and I was going to show it to you, but she didn't want me to tell you, she didn't want you to know. I, I couldn't bring myself to not at least give you a clue, but any more would have been disrespectful to her wishes, and she bound me to not reveal this truth until her death."

"Is there anything I can do?"

"Yes," he said and held up my hand so I could see the mark of the Heart's Twine, "cherish her, forever, and continue her legacy. That is all." He let go and walked away, his footsteps echoed off the cathedral walls. He knew that I needed to be alone.

I walked to the cliff where Christine and I used to watch the sunset. I thought for a long time, and I didn't feel anything. I looked at the Heart's Twine and started talking to myself, "It's just like you, knowing something bad and keeping it to yourself. You never wanted to push your hardships on someone else and you never understood that I didn't mind…" I felt a sudden burst inside me, like chi blast that I had suddenly lost controlled of, "I still would have wanted to know…" I whispered and then screamed at the top of my lungs, "I STILL WANTED TO KNOW!!!!!!" I ranted at the mountains, stringing so many thoughts together that it didn't even make sense. The mountains stared back at me, as could and unmoving as Christine's dead eyes. I remained there in silence for an unknown period of time and then returned to Capsule Corp. my children would need me. Christine would kill me if she knew I had left them this long at such a time of need.

I teleported to the room were her body was laying on a bed. Someone has closed her eyes. The Heart's Twined was glowing, I touched it with my unmarked hand and to my surprise, it jumped to me. Usually, both of us had to be conscious to transfer it, but it just came to me. I felt something tug on my mind. I closed my eyes and heard Christine's voice.

"If you're listening to this, it means that I've died-" a long pause, "I'm sorry Piccolo. I know you would have wanted to know that I would die, but…I couldn't bring myself to tell you. You changed my entire world Piccolo, who know where I would be if you hadn't accidentally appeared in my cell, blind as a bat and clueless," she chuckled, " I'll never forget that day. Thank you Piccolo, I wish I could still be there, but things just don't always work out. It feels like I'll be gone forever, but I know that we'll meet again when you die. For know, take care of the children, so you can tell me how they turn out when you get up her." I mental image appeared of her smiling, "Good bye for now Piccolo, I'd tell you to be strong, but I know you already are. I love you."

Outside, I heard Shenlong's familiar question. Gohan asked for Christine to be revived. Shenlong replied that it couldn't be done, that he couldn't raise those who had died from natural causes. I heard Alucard yell and plea with the dragon. There was nothing the dragon could do. I stepped outside. Alucard stood with his fists clenched and tears pouring down his face. The twins were crying, although I don't think they fully understood what was going on, they just knew it was bad and it involved there mother. Shenlong asked for another wish, one he could do. Alucard was going to argue again, but I put a hand on his shoulder, "Shenlong, I wish for a proper burial for my wife, but I lack the materials, I will relay what I need with my mind, can you provide them."

The dragon waited as I told it what I needed then spoke, "It shall be done." The materials appeared at my feet.

"What is your second wish?"

"I do not have for now, I would like to save it for another time. Return to your slumber Shenlong."

The dragon grumbled and disappeared.

Alucard shook under my hand, then he suddenly turned on me, "How can you give up on her?!"

I squatted down to his level, "I'm not, if I was, I wouldn't be here with you."

"That's not good enough! You have to fix her!"

"I can't Alucard."

"Yes you can, you just don't want do!"

I struggled to keep the anger out of my voice, "If I could revive your mother I would do it in a heartbeat. There just isn't a way."

"There HAS to be a way! You just have to find it!"

I sighed, "There are some things you have to fight and some things you have to accept, this-"

"THIS ISN'T ONE OF THE THINGS YOU HAVE TO ACCEPT!!" He went to punch me, I could have blocked it, but I braced myself instead. Alucard pounded on my chest, his blows haphazard, his emotions to high to do any real damage. Gradually the punches became slower and half-hearted and he was exhausted and he fell forward. He buried his face into my chest and was still crying, but he had cried past the point tears would fall, his sobs were hiccups more than anything else. I held my eldest for a long time until his wails became sniffles. He stood straight and wiped his face, "I'm s-sorry."

"Don't sweat it kid, it's understandable."

The twins came over, worry and sorrow on their face, "Daddy?"

"Don't worry, it'll be okay."

We buried Christine the next day. As tradition, I remained at the grave until I was completely alone and then read the _portaire, _the "memory confession."

"Christine, you changed my world too. I'll never forget the day I stumbled upon our cell either. I never imagined myself with you those first couple of months, but I can't imagine myself without you anymore. Thanks for giving me something to fight for again. I'll do my best with the kids, and I'm sure I'll have plenty of stories for you. It does feel like you'll be gone forever, but we will meet again. I love you too."

I burned the _portaire_ on top of her grave and mixed in the ashes with the top of the dirt that covered her. I completed the ritual by placing _lilatas, _"death flowers" on top of the ashes. After that I started my new life, one that my father never intended for me, one that I had never intended for me, and one that I wouldn't trade anything for.

**THE END**

_Fin. Nothing else to really say. Hoped you enjoyed, reviews are always welcomed.  
Elieare_


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